Back to the Start
by withgirl
Summary: After trying to stop the trigger, Regina finds herself back in the Pilot, but with her knowledge of the future, how will she do things differently? [Emma X Regina pairing] (In later chapters, this will basically be a SQ rewrite for the show XD)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hey guys, so this is one of first fics. It turned out a lot more tragic than I originally intended, so I wouldn't suggest it if you're looking for something fluffy.**

Chapter one

"Let me die as Regina," the former Evil Queen announced as she made her way over to the trigger, she held her hands over the diamond and began to absorb the energy.

"Regina please, there has to be another way," Emma begged.

"I will be able to control the magic, but it will take all of my strength," Regina continued, ignoring the optimistic saviour.

"I won't let you die," Emma said firmly.

"Mom!" Henry shouted, as he ran into the mine, followed by the two idiots.

Rolling her eyes, she wondered how she could be so closely associated with the Charmings.

"Henry you can't be here," she sighed, though she couldn't deny the happiness she felt at seeing him.

"You can't give up" he argued, while he ran up to hug her.

"I'm sorry Henry, but it will destroy everything, I can't let that happen, and this is the only thing that I am strong enough for," she answered, as she felt tears come down her cheeks, _why did Henry have to show his affection now?_ She wondered.

"You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are," Emma said firmly as she walked up to the diamond.

Before she could argue, Regina felt Henry tighten the hug, before he ran over to his grandparents. Emma looked into Regina's eyes, trying to communicate the feelings that she was always too afraid to voice, in that moment Regina felt relief, seeing that for once in her life there were people who would care if she died.

She felt the burden lessen as Emma took in half of the energy from the diamond, she allowed herself to feel hope that she may actually survive this.

A magical surge threw her and Emma back, noticing that the diamond now lie powerless on the floor, she allowed unconsciousness to take her.

* * *

"Regina, wake up," a masculine voice entered her consciousness, forcing her to wake up.

Expecting to see Charming, she prepared an insult, opening her eyes her words fell flat before she could speak.

"Graham?" she breathed in shock.

"Regina, Archie called, he said that he told a woman where Henry lived, apparently it was a blonde woman he's never seen before," Graham explained, as he held his hand out to help her off the sofa that she seemed to have fallen asleep on.

Taking his hand, she simply nodded, following him outside, where she saw the familiar bug pull up at the bottom of her drive way.

Henry ran out of the car, clutching his book, "Henry?" she said in shock, noticing how much shorter he was, "how...?"

Henry interrupted her as he ran past her, "I found my real mom," he shouted before running into the house.

Remembering how much that had hurt last time he had said it, Regina felt her heart clench, but his pleas for her not to die lessened the hurt.

Realising what happened next, she looked up to see a very nervous looking Emma walking up.

Considering her options, she knew that Emma probably didn't believe anything that Henry had told her about the curse. She wanted her to stay in Storybrooke, but at the same time she knew that she shouldn't do it the way that she had last time.

"Emma" she breathed before realising her folly.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, and Regina noticed that she looked her up and down, seeing a small blush form she couldn't help a small smirk.

"If Henry can find you, do you really think that I wouldn't be able to find out your name?" Regina answered, praying that she would buy it.

Emma thought about this for a second, deciding that she should just accept it and get out of this weird place as soon as possible.

"Okay," she squeaked, before turning away.

"Wait," Regina grabbed her arm, as she turned and gave her a questioning look, Regina tried desperately to remember what made her stay last time, but at the same time she really needed to talk to a certain pawn store owner. "There's a storm coming, you should really stay at the bed and breakfast until it passes."

Emma narrowed her eyes, she had an overwhelming feeling that this was all wrong, but at the same time looking at Regina she felt as if she shouldn't leave, at least not yet.

Nodding, Regina took the cue to release her arm, "there's a diner on Main Street, just talk to the waitress there and she will be able to set you up with a room for the night."

"You seem oddly fine with meeting Henry's birth mother," Emma narrowed her eyes distrustfully.

"I just...don't want Henry to miss the opportunity to get to know you. Maybe if I allow him he will stop seeing me as a tyrant," she lied, silently cursing at the fact that this plan probably would have worked the first time round.

"What makes you think I want to get to know him?" Emma asked bitterly.

"I've just got a feeling, if I'm wrong just leave in the morning," Regina bargained.

Though her logic made no sense, for some reason it made complete sense when Emma thought about it, "I make no promises, I just wanted to make sure that the kid got home safely."

"And I should really thank you for that, allow me to treat you to breakfast tomorrow morning," Regina smiled, and Emma saw the slight nervousness behind that smile, but she couldn't deny that she really wanted to see Regina again.

"Thank you I think I'll take you up on that offer, but I need to ask, you do know that he thinks everyone in this town is a fairytale character?"

"I'm well aware," she sighed, "I think I may have a better way of dealing with it."

Emma nodded, and made her way to her bug, but she couldn't stop the smile on her face, and she really wished that she knew why.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"Henry?" Regina asked tentatively, having already sent Graham home, she wondered when she should give him his heart back.

"Go away," he mumbled into his pillow.

"I'm happy you're back," she offered.

Sitting up he looked at her curiously, "you're not mad at me?"

"I understand that you needed to find your birth mother," she said as evenly as possible.

"Who are you and where is mom?" he asked.

Letting out a small smile she walked further into his bedroom, "I just realised that I may have been going about things the wrong way, and I don't want to disappoint you again."

Disbelievingly he looked at her with narrowed eyes, "I need to go to bed, I have therapy in the morning."

Regina felt a pang of guilt at remembering making Henry believe he was crazy, "if you don't want to go you don't have to," she mumbled.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"You have no idea Henry," she sighed.

"Then tell me," he answered angrily.

"I promise I will, I just need to talk to someone first," she replied.

Henry simply shook his head in confusion, thinking back to the controlling liar of a mother he had before he had gone to find Emma.

"Whatever," he mumbled, "I guess you sent Emma away."

"I sent her to the bed and breakfast, and I would imagine that she is going to stay in town for quite some time," Regina said begrudgingly.

"Seriously, are you sick," he asked, holding his hand up to her forehead mockingly.

Playfully batting it away she laughed, "I'm fine Henry, and I promise I'll tell you everything in the morning, okay?"

"I'll believe it when I see it," he said as he flopped down onto the bed, at which point the book fell out from under the cover. He scrambled to pick it up, only to have Regina pick it up first.

Handing it to him she said, "you need to be more careful with this Henry, and don't rip out any pages," she scolded before leaving a very dumbfounded Henry behind.

* * *

"Hello madam mayor, how can I help you," Mr Gold smirked from behind the counter.

"Cut the crap imp," Regina replied as she walked up to him, "I have a deal to make."

Tilting his head he said, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I know that you know who you are, Rumplestiltskin."

"Excuse me?" he asked.

Staring him down, he eventually sighed, "and how would you know that?"

"It is a very long story, most of which I don't understand, which is why I am here."

Rolling his eyes he finally submitted "okay your majesty, what is this great tale."

Regina told him all about the alternate past that she remembered, and she kept getting the occasional look of disbelief, right up until she mentioned the trigger.

"I always wondered why you would want that thing written into the curse," he laughed.

"It was a fail safe," she defended.

"What could possibly happen?"

"This isn't the point, the point is that I and Emma stopped it and now I'm living in the past."

"I suppose that by stopping the fail safe, you stopped it from completely destroying Storybrooke, so it reset by taking you back to when the curse began to break," he pondered, before continuing. "Why don't you just use your knowledge of the future to get exactly what you want?" he asked.

"Because what I want has changed, and I wanted to know the fastest way to break the curse," she replied.

Smirking he answered, "kill the saviour."

"Not an option," she replied with a scowl.

"Well than you're just going to need to play this timeline out, the curse will break eventually with the saviour already in town," his smirk deepened. "What do I get out of this supposed deal?"

"Years ago I lied to you, and I need to make it better," she replied with her head down.

Narrowing his eyes he nodded for her to continue.

"Before I tell you, you have to give your word that you will not seek revenge against me in any way."

He thought for a second, only to have his curiosity overtake, "very well, I agree to the conditions."

"Belle is alive," she answered, after a brief hesitation.

Anger consumed his face, he made to step forward before remembering his oath, "where is she?"

"She's underneath the hospital," taking her skeleton key out of her pocket she handed it to him, "her cursed identity is Lacey, but I hope it doesn't remain that way for long."

Taking some calming breaths, he replied "you locked her up for 28 years?"

"In my defence, you trained me to become a monster, so I think we're even," she replied scathingly.

"I suppose your right," he deflated for a moment, "but this does not mean we are even," he said after a moment before making his way towards the hospital as quickly as possible.

* * *

Emma couldn't stop thinking about the mayor, and how Henry could possibly believe that she was the Evil Queen. As ridiculous as it sounded she couldn't help but wonder if Henry was right, it was like there were memories deep within her consciousness that just couldn't get past her disbelief. Everything about this town felt familiar, but so strange at the same time.

At the same time as these doubts, she couldn't help but feel excited about her breakfast with the mayor, surely it couldn't be a date, right? No woman would be that welcoming to their child's birth mother, and though she kept trying to deny it, she actually wanted to get to know Henry as well.

Turning on her side on her bed she sighed, she could just feel that some weird things were going to happen, and for some reason she was determined to be prepared for them.

* * *

The next morning Regina stood behind the counter making herself coffee, going through possible speeches for Henry, she knew that she had to say sorry. As minutes turned into half an hour she realised that none of what she thought of would be good enough for what she did, before she remembered with a smile, that she hadn't actually done the worst of it yet, maybe she had a better chance at redemption than she once did.

Deciding that chocolate chip pancakes would help, she had just placed the last on a plate as Henry walked into the kitchen already dressed for school. He eyed the pancakes distrustfully.

"Henry, they're chocolate chip."

She tried to hide her laugh as he almost launched forward, and started eating them without hesitation.

Swallowing he said, "so?"

Nodding Regina took a breath before admitting, "I'm sorry."

"For?" Henry asked, with shock upon his face.

"For lying to you about the curse, you're right, it's very real."

Words failed Henry as he stared at his mother.

After a moment he finally said "what is your plan here?"

Sighing she replied, "this may be hard to believe but I've already lived through this, something happened and I woke up yesterday, reliving the past."

"What happened?" he asked, still looking completely shocked.

"Emma and I stopped something that was going to destroy Storybrooke."

"You and Emma worked together?" he asked.

"Well after she broke the curse..."

"Yes!" he said,

Nodding she continued, "I realised that everything I did was wrong, and now I am determined to not act like my mother."

"Your mother?" he asked tentatively.

"That is a very long story," she sighed, "the basis of which is that she is insane."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Help Emma break the curse," she answered with a smile. Henry just shook his head, "I know it's hard to believe..."

"It's awesome," he said after a moment.

"You believe me?" she choked out.

"It makes complete sense, you saw the error of your ways, and now you have a chance at complete redemption by having a do over," he said with a huge smile.

Regina just smiled at him feeling unable to form words.

"Hey mom, what's wrong?" he asked.

"You believing me is a strange feeling, I thought I may need proof," she said with a laugh.

"You have proof?" he asked.

"Well I could have shown you a dragon," Henry looked up at her with excitement, "but you don't need to see it now."

"But..." he sighed, but began smiling. Though he saw Regina as the Evil Queen, he always had doubts about what defeating her would mean for his relationship with the mom that had raised him. He now felt that he would be able to love her openly, as he had actually wanted to secretly do since he found the story book.

"So what is your plan?"

"I wish I had one," she sighed.

"Well you should know how to break the curse, how did Emma do it last time?" he noticed her hesitation, and he placed her hand on hers, "I won't judge you."

"How can you trust me so fast?"

"I can always tell when you're lying," he answered simply, "and I always thought that you would eventually get redemption."

Nodding she answered his question, "I tried to put her under a sleeping curse, but you ate the turnover instead." Henry noticed tears come to the surface, and nodded for her to continue, "Whale couldn't wake you up with medicine, so Emma kissed you on the forehead and admitted that she loved you, the curse broke."

Henry nodded, "that may be difficult to repeat if you're trying to be a good person."

"I couldn't agree more," she laughed, happy to see no sign of disgust in her son's eyes.

"Okay, I need to think about this, we need an operation," he said with a concentrated look.

"Operation Cobra?" she laughed and Henry looked at her in shock, "the one you plan to have with Emma. I think we need another name."

Henry simply nodded, hoping he would get used to his mom knowing the future, "operation mongoose?" he suggested.

Regina nodded, "I like it," looking at the clock behind Henry, "you need to go to school."

"I can't go after what you just told me!" he said rather dramatically.

"You can and you will," she laughed, "I promised to buy Emma breakfast."

"So you're going to become friends with her?" he asked.

"Err...yes...friends," she smiled, as she shooed Henry off to get his backpack.

 **A/N sorry if you got an e-mail saying there's a new chapter I posted it to the wrong story**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

"Good morning Miss Swan," Regina said as she walked up to Emma, strangely sitting at the table she had first seen her at in Granny's.

Emma looked up from her hot cocoa, to see Regina approaching, and she couldn't help but smile at the suspiciously sexy pant suit she had chosen, with one too many buttons undone.

"Good morning madam mayor," Regina felt butterflies erupt as Emma used the familiar title.

Ruby sauntered over to the two of them and with a wolfish grin she asked, "what can I get you two ladies?"

"I'll have the usual and Miss Swan?" Regina turned to Emma who was looking at Ruby curiously.

"Er...I'll have a toasted bacon sandwich," Regina smirked, as Ruby walked away.

"What?" Emma asked curiously.

"Huh," Regina realised that she was probably freaking Emma out with her knowing smirk, "nothing," she said quickly.

"Okay..." Emma said before falling into silence. "I need ask you something."

Regina nodded.

"Everyone here is familiar, what is going on in this town?"

Regina felt relief, maybe Emma could remember everything and actively break the curse?

"The mind is a curious thing, who knows the true cause of déjà vu?" Regina said as casually as she could.

"There's just something about you," Emma said, and then she realised that she had said it out loud and went red with embarrassment , "sorry," she mumbled.

Ruby came over and placed their breakfast in front of each of them, and a coffee for Regina.

"Thank you Miss Lucas," Regina said.

Nodding she walked away, and Emma began to hungrily eat her sandwich.

"So what is it about me?" Regina teased as she began to eat her breakfast, every bit the civilised lady, especially compared to the uncouth saviour.

"It's hard to explain," Emma's blush deepened.

"Well could you try and explain?" Regina asked.

Emma shook her head, "not until you tell me what you're hiding."

"I'm not hiding anything," Regina defended.

"Well no offence, but you seem almost as crazy as the kid."

"He is not crazy!" Regina replied indignantly.

"He thinks you're the Evil Queen," Emma laughed.

"He has a very active belief system in fantasy," Regina said evenly, her voice revealing her political experience.

"Why do I get the feeling that you believe him?" Emma asked, desperately wishing that this beautiful woman was not crazy.

Regina considered whether she should admit the truth. Looking around she realised that pre-curse Granny's would not be the best forum, and remembering just how disbelieving Emma was she wondered just what she should do to ease her into the idea of the curse. Noticing Mary Margaret at the counter, she began to form a plan.

"Of course I don't believe him, I just don't think that branding him as crazy will help him get over it," she lied. "But I do think that if you stick around for a while and get to know him, he may be able to become better adjusted."

"Why would he think you're evil?" Emma asked tilting her head.

"Let's just say that I have a new perspective than I once did, I realised that the more I push him to believe that I am his only mother, the more he will pull away from me. I understand that a lot has happened to you in the past twenty-four hours, but I would really appreciate it if you would be willing to test my theory," Regina smiled hopefully.

Emma nodded, since Henry had shown up at her door she had felt a small voice in her head screaming 'run away.' But at the same time she felt as if her wish had been granted, especially now that she had met Regina, a family seemed to be neatly laid out in front of her, "okay, I'll stay for at least a month."

Regina broke out into a broad smile, that Emma couldn't help but mirror, she had to admit that she found it weird that a stranger would want her around so badly.

"Well if you're going to be staying you'll need somewhere better than the bed and breakfast to stay."

"It's not the worst place I've ever lived," Emma laughed.

Regina felt guilt, but tried to shake it off "well I believe Henry's teacher is looking for a roommate, I think you'll make good...friends." Emma narrowed her eyes, "she's the nicest person in town," Regina bargained.

"I'm not big on roommates," Emma answered with a frown.

"Trust me Miss Swan, in such a small town you might as well make as many friends as possible. She's the one at the counter with the pixie cut, I suggest you talk to her soon and get settled."

"Why don't you talk to her?" Emma asked, and Regina noticed that she actually looked nervous.

"We're not the best of friends, but trust me?" Regina asked with a small smile.

The weird thing was that Emma did, and she felt this need to do anything that would make Regina happy, "okay," she nodded.

Regina placed a few bills on the table for Ruby, and just as she was about to leave she passed Emma a piece of paper, "call me," she smirked.

As she left Emma smiled down at the paper.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Regina sat at her desk and she couldn't help but wonder whether she had done the right thing. As much as she deeply hated Snow White, she knew that she would be in her life for a long time if she wanted to be with Emma. She also knew that Emma had spent most of her life alone which was entirely her fault, stopping her from meeting her mother would be something that the Evil Queen would do, and she was desperate to stop acting trying to stop the inevitable, Emma had to build a relationship with Snow and she also needed to find a way to wake up Charming. Sighing she put her head in hands and decided that she needed to tell everything to Henry so that he could help her decide the best course of action, she was starting to realise that it might be much more difficult to be a hero than to be a villain and it was really starting to irritate her.

* * *

Emma walked up the counter after realising that the woman that Regina pointed out was about to leave, "hey, this may seem strange but I need to talk to you."

As she turned to face her Emma felt the extreme familiarity that she had been feeling with every new person that she met, only this seemed to be much stronger than with anyone else, perhaps only rivalled by the feeling of déjà vu she experienced whenever she talked to Regina.

"Hey, I don't think we've ever met, I'm Mary Margaret" she said as she smiled at Emma, and she couldn't help but wonder how everyone in this town could be so friendly.

"This is going to seem strange, but I'm Emma Swan and errr...Henry's birth mother," Emma mumbled, still not quite believing everything that had happened.

Shock took over the teacher's face before she relaxed, "I'm surprised Regina has allowed you to live," she laughed.

Emma gave her a curious look, "she asked me to stay."

"Really" Mary Margaret's eyes widened, "that doesn't seem like her."

Emma cleared her throat feeling very awkward talking about Regina, "well she said that you might be looking for a roommate, and I'm errr...staying I guess."

"You don't seem sure," she laughed.

"I promised to stay for...Henry," Emma replied.

Mary Margaret studied her for a moment and seemed to decide that she could trust her for reasons that she couldn't quite fathom, "yes I am looking for a roommate, when do you want to move in?"

"Seriously, you don't want references," Emma asked stunned.

Mary Margaret just laughed, and grabbed a napkin and wrote her number on it, "I really have to go, I've got a lesson to teach, but call me after school and we can arrange everything."

"Why would you trust me so quickly?"

Mary Margaret grabbed her bag, "this may seem strange, but there's just something about you," she laughed before leaving.

As she walked away Emma mumbled, "I know what you mean."

* * *

"Hey mom," Henry said casually as he walked into her office.

"Since when do you leave school for lunch?" she asked closing her laptop.

"We have a lot to talk about," he said as if it were obvious, walking over he placed a chicken salad from Granny's on her desk.

Smiling at him, she couldn't help but feel pure happiness at his complete faith in her, but at the same time she felt as if it could taken away in an instant if she made the wrong move.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Regina asked as she opened her lunch.

"Well what happened in the 'future'?" he asked.

"Where should I start?" she laughed.

"Well just start from what should have happened after the point you were sent back to," he reasoned.

"Well I forced Emma to crash into a sign, I tricked her into taking your therapy notes and then I had Graham arrest her. Mary Margaret bailed her out and she cut down one of my apple tree's branches and then she threatened me," she recounted.

"Well don't do any of that," he laughed.

"Yeah that has already been avoided." Frowning she realised she should just tell him what she had been wondering earlier, "I suppose you already know who Emma's parents are."

"Well I know that Miss Blanchard is Snow White, but I haven't been able to figure out who Prince Charming is," he frowned.

"Yes, that's want I wanted to talk to you about, you're going to the hospital today with your class, right?"

He nodded curiously.

"Well there's a man in a coma there named John Doe, he is prince Charming and his actual name is David Nolan, I just don't know what to do," she frowned.

"Why?" he asked, Regina considered for a moment whether to tell him her doubts, "I need to know for the operation."

Nodding Regina sighed, "I've spent my whole life trying to ruin their lives, and now to get what I want I have to help them."

Henry considered this for a moment, "well if you help them than you won't be seen as the Evil Queen when the curse breaks."

Regina cringed thinking about the mob that had attacked her last time, "I think you may be right. Well last time Snow woke up Charming by reading that story book to him."

She looked up to see a huge smile practically running between Henry's ears, "what?" she asked.

"I've always wished that you would tell me the truth, I guess it's still weird to hear you talk about them like they're real," he laughed.

"Well I promise that I'll never lie to you again," she replied as she began to mirror his smile.

"Okay so what is your thing with Emma?" he asked.

"W-what?" she stuttered.

"I can tell that you like her a lot, I was just wondering whether anything actually happened between you two in the future," he asked with a smile.

"You would be okay with that?" she asked with shock written across her features.

"I admit it's weird and gross, but for some reason it just feels right," he replied.

"Well nothing ever happened," she assured him with a laugh.

"But you want it to?" he asked with a grin.

Sighing, she replied "I was just too afraid to do anything, besides there was a lot of other things happening."

Nodding Henry answered, "maybe we can work it into the operation."

Chuckling she said, "I'll handle that, you just focus on breaking the curse."

"So what's Storybrooke like without the curse?" he asked curiously.

"Honestly I never really got to enjoy it," she replied with a sad smile.

Henry nodded, and covered her hand with his, "well you will this time," he assured.

"I hope so," she smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

As his class walked into the hospital, Henry clutched his book tightly to his chest. He hadn't stopped smiling since his lunch with his mom, and he was so relieved that she was no longer lying to him.

Miss Blanchard announced that she wanted them to all stay on this floor, but that they should explore and talk to anyone that they wanted. Henry immediately set out in search of 'John Doe' and ten minutes later he walked into a private room with a blonde comatose man hooked up to a ridiculous number of wires and machines.

Miss Blanchard followed him into the room, "this probably isn't the best room," she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened to him?" Henry asked.

"From what I've heard your mom found him on the side of the road and brought him here. He has been in a coma ever since, nobody even knows his name," she replied sadly.

Looking down at the book, he thought about what Regina had said, "do you think he can hear us?"

Shaking her head she replied, "nobody really knows, but I think talking can help sometimes."

Holding up his book he asked hopefully, "why don't you read to him?"

Tilting her head she replied, "why me?"

"Errr...because you have a calming voice," he tried, "please just try?" he continued with puppy dog eyes.

Taking the offered book, she laughed as she sat next to John Doe, "Once upon time..." she began.

* * *

"Why did you ask me to meet you here?" Graham asked, as he walked through the graveyard.

"There's a wrong I need to right before it escalates," Regina replied with a sad smile.

He simply nodded clearly not understanding what was going on.

As she finally got to the mausoleum, Regina turned to the sheriff and asked, "has anything strange happened since Emma got here?"

Graham's eyes widened, "what do you mean?" he gulped.

"I mean have you been having any strange feelings or anything out of the ordinary at all?"

Considering whether he should tell her the truth, he knew that lying would be pointless, "I had a strange dream last night, and I keep having flashes of impossible memories, I think I may be going insane," he laughed nervously.

"Well there is an explanation for everything, you're not crazy," she assured.

Narrowing his eyes he nodded for her to continue, but instead of replying she just pointed towards the mausoleum and walked inside, he followed without hesitation.

Pushing aside her father's coffin she walked down into her vault, Graham's mouth fell open as he continued following her into a room filled with unidentifiable equipment and an uncountable number of familiar looking boxes.

"What is all of this?" he breathed.

"Well the flashes that you have been having are memories," she explained.

He laughed nervously again and replied, "that's insane, I've never hunted in my life."

"Believe me, you definitely have" Regina answered as she went over to the boxes of hearts, and picked the one that she had held many times over the years.

"You see this isn't where you were born, everyone in this town is from a different realm," she explained.

Graham began walking backwards, "I really need to go Regina."

Regina let out a frustrated breath and wondered whether this would be worth it, especially considering the interest that he so obviously had for Emma. Shaking her head, she knew that if she wanted everything to work out she couldn't just kill Graham because it would complicate things.

"When the curse hit you didn't have your heart that means that you were less affected than everyone else. That is why the curse is beginning to break earlier for you than any other person in town," taking his beating heart out of the box she showed it to him.

His mouth fell open at the sight of the heart, and he for some reason had the urge to grab it off her, he just knew that it would somehow make him feel less dull.

"In theory the heart has been protected by magic, so I should be able to return it to you without the need of a bigger source of power," she pondered more for herself than for the sheriff.

Walking over to him she held the red organ up to his chest and prayed that this would work. As she successfully pushed it into his chest, she noticed that he didn't even try and resist.

Once she pulled her hand back, she looked at him for a reaction, "Regina," he breathed, though it held more emotion than it had for 28 years.

"It worked," she smiled.

"I remember everything," he said with heavy breaths until a thought occurred to him, "why would you give me my heart back?"

"So that I'm not tempted to do something that I would regret," she answered vaguely.

"What do you want?" he asked sceptically.

"I want to break the curse so that I can get my happy ending, I only ask one thing of you," she replied with a tentative smile.

Nodding, Graham decided that she seemed very different and he would find out why.

"I need you to keep an eye on Mr Gold and make sure that he isn't planning anything," Graham nodded in understanding.

Regina made to leave before she turned and said firmly, "oh, and I need you to make Emma your deputy and to not even think about developing feelings for her."

* * *

Regina walked down Main Street on her way to pick Henry up from school, only to be interrupted by her phone ringing, "hello" she answered.

"Mayor Mills, it's the hospital, the John Doe that you found woke up," a frantic nurse informed her.

Regina let out a sigh, trying to remember what happens next, only to be informed, "Dr Whale left him alone to get some testing equipment and when he came back the patient had disappeared, we have already informed the sheriff's station, and as his emergency contact I needed to inform you," she said quickly.

"Thank you for letting me know," Regina said calmly before hanging up.

Going through her contacts she called Graham, "I need you to take Mary Margaret to the Toll Bridge."

* * *

"Remind me again why I'm here," Mary Margaret said.

Emma shook her head, still not quite believing everything that happened, "well Graham gave me a job and he said that I needed someone who knows what this John Doe looks like to show me to the Toll Bridge, apparently he wanted to test me or something."

Trekking through the forest Mary Margaret asked, "why me?"

"He didn't really say, he just said something like 'have you met Henry's teacher'?" Emma replied with an exasperated sigh.

Mary Margaret nodded and continued to lead the way to the Toll Bridge.

Once they arrived Emma began looking around for the John Doe, "so how did Graham know that he would be here?"

"He didn't say," Emma replied.

"There!" Mary Margaret almost shouted as she noticed John Doe lying in a small ditch near the bridge.

They both ran to his side, Mary Margaret put his hand on his arm, as he began to stir, "hey it's okay," she whispered.

He started mumbling incoherently, but Emma could swear that she heard him say 'Snow."

* * *

"Okay, I sleep over there, your bedroom's upstairs, kitchen, living room, bathroom," Mary Margaret pointed.

Emma trailed in behind her looking around the loft. Once they had gotten John Doe safely back to the hospital, Mary Margaret had said that Emma might as well move in right now.

"Well, it is nicer than the bed and breakfast. Are you sure you want a roommate?" Emma asked.

"I know it's weird, I don't know about you but I have to admit that it feels like we're meant be friends or something," Mary Margaret laughed.

Emma smiled, "everything in this town is weird," Mary Margaret just laughed again. "Seriously, someone needs to tell me what is going on here."

"I honestly haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, everything feels the same, well except for the mayor."

"What about her?"

"Well before you came to town she was much less...hospitable," she replied and with a small smile, she continued "and Henry seems happier."

"Because of me?" Emma asked looking shell shocked.

"I think it's not just Henry you've made happier, Regina seemed much lighter than she ever had before at breakfast this morning," Mary Margaret reasoned.

At Emma's smile Mary Margaret asked "you like her too?"

"Well it's weird, I made a wish yesterday that I didn't have to be alone and then Henry showed up and took me to Regina. I know it's insane, but I felt a connection," Emma said awkwardly.

Mary Margaret's smile widened, "love at first sight."

"Wow, calm down," Emma said as blush rose to her cheeks.

"Don't fight it," Snow laughed as she walked away.

Emma nodded and pulled out her phone, she typed 'do you want to grab some dinner?' after a moment's hesitation she sent it.

A second later she got a reply 'Henry and I usually have dinner at 6, you're welcome to join us at my home if you wish.'

Emma's smile widened as she replied, 'I'll see you later then."

"What am I going to wear?" she unintentionally said out loud, only to hear Mary Margaret's laugh as a reply.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Regina sighed as she walked into the hospital. She really wished to be at home preparing for her dinner with Emma and Henry, but instead she had to visit David because of some hospital policy.

Remembering that he had limited memories, she realised with a twinge of guilt that in order for him to get his cursed identity she would probably have get Kathryn to come. Despite this, however, she was determined to try and find another way.

"Mayor Mills!" a familiar voice called, turning she felt complete shock as she saw Kathryn approach her followed by Sidney.

Sighing again, she walked over to her.

"Kathryn?" she tilted her head.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that David was in hospital?" she asked in outrage, clearly not bothering to question that Regina knew her name.

"No one knew who he was, how could they have told you?" Regina hoped that she would accept that, she also hoped that she could find a way to make her leave.

At the same moment Mary Margaret walked in holding a basket of muffins, she looked curiously between Kathryn and the mayor, "is John Doe awake?" she asked a nearby nurse.

"His name is David Nolan, and he is my husband!" Kathryn announced indignantly.

Regina felt frustration rise, she had honestly completely forgotten about this idiotic love triangle.

"Okay, Kathryn just calm down," she tried, though she seriously wished that she could form a fire ball, "Mary Margaret helped to take care of him."

Mary Margaret looked at Regina in shock for a moment, as Kathryn's facial expression softened, "then I suppose I owe you an apology and a thank you."

Mary Margaret just nodded, still clearly confused by the turn of events.

Dr Whale walked up to the trio, "errr...Madam Mayor, I believe you are Mr Nolan's emergency contact," Regina tore her attention away from the other two women and nodded, "well I'm afraid that he has no memory."

"I know" Regina sighed, her eyes widened as she realised her folly, "I mean I guessed."

Whale looked at her sceptically but nodded, "I would be prepared to discharge him in a few days, I need to run a few tests."

"Can we visit him?" Mary Margaret squeaked.

"I think that he may be better prepared for visitors in the morning," he replied.

Mary Margaret nodded, looking between the mayor and David's wife she awkwardly nodded again, before handing the muffin basket to Kathryn and basically running away.

As soon as Whale had walked away, Regina turned to Kathryn and asked, "how did you find out."

"Mr Glass let me know, apparently he found some evidence that led him to believe that the 'John Doe' was married," she answered.

"Really?" Regina asked through clenched teeth.

Kathryn looked confused at Regina's reaction, so she made an effort to appear as regal as she usually does, "please feel free to call me if there is anything you wish to talk about."

Kathryn nodded, and stared longingly in the direction of David's room, before leaving until the next day.

Regina approached Sidney and looked at him critically, "what was this 'evidence'?"

He simply smirked and shook his head, "reporter's intuition."

The moment that he opened his mouth she noticed that he was nothing like the subservient little puppet that he had been, "what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing dearie," he smiled before walking away.

"Rumple!" Regina whispered in shock as she watched Sidney leave.

* * *

"What did you do to Sidney?" Regina's growl was accompanied by the pawn shop bell.

Gold smirked, "he's very impressionable."

"You promised that you wouldn't harm me," Regina reminded him.

"I said that _I_ wouldn't hurt you, you never said anything about using pawns. You're just upset that I found a loophole, did you really think I wouldn't," he smiled his impish smile.

"What exactly did you do to him?" Regina asked with a scowl.

"I simply delve into the future you lived, I can stop you from getting what you want. It's not quite the crippling pain that I wish you were in, but it is still satisfying ."

Regina paled, "you have magic."

"Of course not, you and I both know that will happen when the dear saviour breaks the curse. As you well know, however, much of my inventory has magical properties. I simply destroyed one of them so that I could see into the future," he smirked.

"How could you possibly do that?"

"You're forgetting just how long I have lived, I have read almost every magical tome in existence. Believe me your majesty, I will always be able to find a way to make a person miserable," he sneered.

"Have you considered how tiring that is?" Regina sighed.

Gold narrowed his eyes, before he let out a laugh, "is the Evil Queen trying to get redemption?"

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you stayed out of my way," she almost begged, she had seriously hoped that Gold would just let something go for once.

"That's not going to happen, you made me believe that my love was dead, why should I allow you to be happy?"

"Because if you do, then maybe you can be happy," she suggested.

Smirking again he said, "I think you spent too much time with the Charming family in your future."

"Unfortunately, if all goes well, that is likely to continue for a long time," she sighed.

"Well then perhaps my interference can save you from a future of the 'idiots'" he laughed.

Regina just shook her head, "I can beat whatever you throw at me imp."

"I find that hard to believe, after all I know you best," he sneered again.

Regina let out a frustrated groan and left, very deliberately knocking a pile on paper on the floor.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Henry asked, as he saw his mom taking her anger out on some poor unsuspecting carrots.

"Nothing," she tried to dismiss him as she violently chopped.

"Come on, you promised you wouldn't lie," he said as he sat on a stool and looked at her expectantly.

"Mr Gold is plotting against me, he doesn't want me to get what I want," she sighed as she lay the knife down.

"Why?" he asked.

"I may have done something very wrong and he wants revenge," she replied.

"What did you do?"

"I locked his girlfriend in a tower, and told him she was dead, and then I cursed her to spend 28 years in an insane institution," she winced.

Henry's eyes widened, "that's pretty bad, have you tried to do anything about it?"

"Well, on the day that I woke up in the past I went to the pawn shop and gave him the key to let her out. But lets just say that he had never been the forgiving type," she replied.

Henry nodded, "who was he?"

"Rumplestiltskin," Regina answered without hesitation.

Henry's eyes widened even further, "so he was the Dark One that did all of those horrible things in the book."

Regina nodded, "he's also one of the most powerful people across all of the realms."

"But he has no magic here, what can he possibly do?"

"You would be surprised," she sighed and continued, "he knows what happens in the alternate future, apparently he's going to take every step to ensure that I don't get what I want."

Henry sighed in return, "that makes the operation more complicated, but we're just going to have to fast track everything then."

"What do you mean?" Regina laughed at his optimism.

"Lets say that the curse needs to be broken by next week," he suggested.

"It took a year last time, and we have no idea how to break it," Regina tried to talk him down.

"True love's kiss, we just need Snow White and Prince Charming to kiss," he said excitedly.

"That didn't work last time, they have to remember loving each other, which they don't. At the moment they just kind of like each other," she answered solemnly.

Henry frowned, before another thought occurred to him, "you and Emma!"

"Henry..." Regina tried to stop him from forming hope.

"You went back in time so that you could build a better relationship with her, sounds like true love," he said defiantly.

Regina was about to object, before realising that she and Emma had done a lot of impossible things together.

"Okay, maybe," she answered, "but how do you suppose that I get her to love me in a week."

"Just be yourself," he answered, before adding "and make lasagne."

 **A/N I couldn't really remember whether Regina and Kathryn knew each other before the whole John Doe thing, so sorry if I was wrong lol**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Emma paced Regina's front porch, as she pulled her phone for the tenth time, it was still 5.30. After hours of deliberating she had gone with a tight pair of black jeans, a black and red shirt covered by her red jacket.

She had been stood on the porch for ten minutes trying to decide the least creepy time to actually knock.

Sighing she started to think about everything strange that had happened. She had met her son, met the most beautiful woman in the universe who was clearly interested in her, she had gotten a roommate that she actually enjoyed being around and she had gotten a job within a day of coming to town. She knew that all of this should terrify her, and before she met Henry it probably would have. It was a difficult thing to explain, she knew that none of this had happened before, but every time something happened or she met someone she had the strongest sense of déjà vu. This feeling seemed to even override her superpower. When Regina had said that she didn't believe Henry Emma knew that she was lying, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to dwell on it, in fact she was beginning to believe that Henry's theories could actually be a viable explanation for everything.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of an opening door "you know most people knock right?" the small brunette laughed.

Emma felt blush come to her face realising that Regina had probably sent Henry to let her in, "I..."

"Why are you nervous?" he asked in an amused voice.

"I am not nervous," Emma tried.

Henry just nodded slowly in disbelief, before opening the door wider, "mom said that dinner won't be ready until 6 but you're welcome to come in."

Emma looked at him curiously "I thought that she's evil."

"I was wrong," he replied before casually walking off to his bedroom.

Emma shook her head in his direction, _what the hell?_ She thought.

"Miss Swan," Regina called, and Emma felt a chill run up her spine.

Emma followed the voice into the kitchen where Regina had just placed a lasagne in the oven.

"Hey," Emma said awkwardly.

"You don't seem the type to be early," Regina laughed smoothly.

Emma's blush deepened, "I'm usually not."

"Well then you should be an asset to the sheriff's department," Regina chuckled.

Emma laughed as she followed Regina as she left the kitchen, "apple cider?"

Emma nodded as they entered the study, "where'd the kid run off to?"

"I think he has some homework to finish," Regina answered as she poured two glasses.

The blonde accepted the glass with a small 'thank you' and then an awkward silence befell the room for a few moments, until she finally built up the courage to ask a question that had been bothering her "why did Henry think you were evil?"

"I was strict," Regina replied.

"Was?"

"Well he obviously wasn't being very receptive to my parenting style, he seemed to appreciate it when I asked you to stay," Regina explained.

"And why was that again?" Emma asked.

Regina blushed as she took a sip of her drink, "I thought it would be good for Henry to get to know you."

Emma felt her superpower flare up, and this time she was determined not to let it slide, "you're lying."

"Oh yes your superpower," Regina laughed. At Emma's dumbfounded expression, Regina quickly added, "Henry mentioned it."

"You're lying again," Emma replied, this time narrowing her eyes.

Regina desperately searched for an explanation that wouldn't set off that stupid super power, "you just make me nervous," she tried, to be fair it wasn't a lie

Emma's eyes widened and she felt her hands begin to moisten, "why is that? You know I don't want to take the kid away from you."

Regina nodded and placed her glass down, "I know you won't, that's not why you make me nervous," _at least not anymore_ she added mentally.

"Then why?"

"It's hard to explain, I just felt a..." words failed Regina.

"Connection," Emma offered with a smile.

Seeing the same look of love that she had seen in the mine, Regina broke into a huge smile, "exactly."

"I just thought that since it was a closed adoption, you would be pretty pissed about me invading your life," Emma said.

"Well I used to be afraid that his mother would come back for him, but...I don't know how to explain it, I just didn't feel that as soon as I saw you," Regina almost mumbled.

Emma tilted her head, realising that Regina was just as emotionally inept as she was, and that made her even more interested in this strange beautiful woman then ever before, she just wanted to find out everything about her.

"Hey mom," Henry called.

"I'm in the study," Regina replied.

Henry walked in holding a piece of paper, he smiled at Emma, before walking over to Regina. "I've done most of my math homework, but I can't figure out this last one."

Regina nodded, and inspected the work sheet, silence fell as she figured it out, and Emma couldn't help but smile, she had always wished for a parent that would help her with homework, and now she knew that her son had that kind of parent.

"You just need to do the opposite," pointing at the numbers she explained, "just find a number that goes into both of these so that you can put them into brackets."

Henry nodded clearly in deep thought, until he had a spark of inspiration, grabbing the paper he quickly wrote the answer and showed it to his mom proudly.

Regina smiled "that's right, is that all of your homework?" Henry nodded and Regina continued "go wash up for dinner, it shouldn't be too long now."

Henry nodded, and ran off to do as he was told.

Emma looked at Regina, before the brunette asked "what?" with a laugh.

"I'm just happy that you adopted him," she replied with a blush.

"As am I," Regina laughed, "care to wait in the kitchen."

Emma nodded as she trailed Regina as she left the room.

* * *

Fifteen minutes the trio sat at the dinner table, as they ate the lasagne, which Emma had to try and stop herself from devouring. Looking between son and mother, she noticed just how civilised they both were, she began to feel out of place. Shyly she took her elbows off the table which only made Regina laugh "don't worry Miss Swan, make yourself as comfortable as possible."

Emma gave a small smile, and within a few minutes she had completely forgotten about her worry.

The following forty-five minutes were the best of Emma's life, Henry told her all about school, and she noted that he hadn't mentioned his fairytale theories. Henry also told her some anecdotes about his childhood.

The phone began to ring and Regina excused herself from the table,

"What is it Graham?" she asked.

"I found Sidney, what do you want me to do with him?" his voice came through the device.

Regina sighed and considered her options, "well obviously he cannot be free while he is Gold's pawn."

"How about the institute under the hospital, once we figure it out he can be released," he suggested.

Regina wondered whether that would be wise, she realised that she couldn't allow him to stay within the public, but people would definitely notice that he was missing, "just keep him in the holding cell, I need to talk to him."

Graham agreed and they each hung up.

"Something has come up, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but would you be able to stay with Henry for an hour?" Regina asked as she walked back into the dining room, though she wasn't sure whether this would be too much for the commitment fearing saviour.

Emma looked at Henry fear clear on her face.

"You only have to stay and watch TV with me," he laughed.

Emma nodded, "I think I can handle that."

"I'm sure you can," Regina smirked, "just make sure that he doesn't watch anything above PG and he isn't allowed any candy, if he gets hungry he can have a fruit snack."

Emma's eyes widened, "errrrmmmm..."

Henry laughed, "don't worry Emma, I'll talk you through all the rules."

Standing up he walked over to Regina and hugged her "see you later mom."

A huge smile adorned Regina's face, she still couldn't quite believe that Henry had begun to forgive her so quickly.

"I'll see you later my little prince, I expect him to be in one piece," Regina teased as she smirked at Emma before leaving.

Emma gulped and thought _I can handle this._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

"What did Gold do to you?" Graham asked while slamming his hands onto the interrogation table.

"I believe I have the right to remain silent," he quipped before making a zipping motion across his lips.

The sheriff growled in frustration, only to be interrupted by the arrival of the mayor being announced by a knock on the glass. He scowled at the reporter before leaving the room.

"Anything?" Regina asked, while handing him the coffee that she had promised him.

"He hasn't told me anything, but he does seem different, like he's not actually Sidney anymore."

Regina thought back to Sidney's time as a genie and then as her mirror, he had never acted like this, in fact there was only one person that she knew how acted that way.

"Complete mind control?" she suggested.

Graham held his hands up in surrender "how would I know?"

Regina smirked "good point, and why couldn't you have gotten yourself coffee?"

The hunter blushed and Regina raised her eyebrow, "no reason, I just figured that you owe me."

"Right, so it would have nothing to do with a certain wolf waitress who makes you forget how to speak?"

His blush deepened "that's really not important," he mumbled.

Regina just laughed "you would think that someone who could remember after so long wouldn't be afraid to ask someone on a date."

"Have you asked Emma out?" Regina looked at him in shock and he just quoted "'don't even think about developing feelings for her.'"

"That's really not important at the moment," she mumbled.

"So why is mine important?"

Regina just shook her head and made her way to through the door towards Sidney, "hypocrite," the sheriff mumbled.

* * *

Henry and Emma sat on the couch watching a random movie, and the blonde was very grateful that she had parent lock to guide her.

Grabbing a grape she looked at the engrossed boy curiously.

"Doesn't any of this feel weird to you?"

"The movie would make sense if you watched it," he replied without looking away.

"I'm talking about real life, kid," instantly Henry turned to her with his full attention, and nodded for her to continue. "I mean, everything just seems to be moving so fast, I met you yesterday and your mom is already inviting me to family dinners and letting me babysit you. Within twenty-four hours I got a roommate, a job and son and a...errr-"

"My mom?" he asked casually.

Emma immediately blushed "is it that obvious?"

"Please, it's not particularly like you tried to hide it, anyway what's your point?"

"My point is that life isn't this easy."

Henry thought about a few of the stories that Regina had told him about the alternate future and he couldn't help but agree with the blonde, "why not?"

Emma considered this for moment, prepared with many reasons from her own past, only to remember that she was talking to a ten-year-old. "It just never is."

"Well when it is being easy should you really make it difficult by fighting it?"

Emma tilted her head "how did you get to be so smart?"

"Have you met my mom?"he laughed "she read me classical books as bedtime stories."

A wide smile spread across the blonde's face, every time she heard something about Henry's childhood she felt the ten year guilt lessen.

"Wow, you like her a lot," he laughed, before turning back to the TV.

"What about the fairytale thing?" she asked.

"What about it?"

"Well within a day you seemed to forget about it," she explained.

"My mom talked to me," he replied, desperately trying not to lie, Regina had given him strict instructions to not try and make Emma believe.

"I thought she sent you to a shrink," she narrowed her eyes, starting to sense the beginnings of a lie.

"She said that I don't have to go anymore," he answered.

"Seriously, how could me being here suddenly cure you?"

Henry felt anger burst through him. He had been warned that Emma would be difficult to convince, but still she had basically just admitted that she thought he was crazy. Feeling tears gather in his eyes he had the overwhelming need to see his mom.

"You think I'm crazy?" he asked accusatorily.

"Well it was pretty insane," she answered, "your mom doesn't believe it."

"Yes she does!" he shouted before running out of the house.

Emma watched him go in complete shock, before realising what had just happened "shit."

* * *

"I know that it's you Gold," Regina said as she sat down.

"Very perceptive," he laughed in Sidney's voice.

"What did you do to him?"

"I told you, I'm resourceful, if you really want to destroy someone there's always a way."

"I have another deal to make," she said casually.

Raising his eyebrow he nodded.

"From what you have told me you have only seen as far as when the curse broke," he nodded again, "well I have met your son."

Both Graham and Sidney looked at Regina in shock, "I know exactly who he is and I have some even more interesting information, but I would need an air tight contract this time."

"Why are you so determined to break the curse," he growled.

"Because it's the only way to get everything that I want," she replied.

"You could always just have your little family without involving the Charming's."

Regina just shook her head, that had been something that she had considered many times. But she knew that Emma needed her parents and if she was being completely honest she knew that Henry needed them.

"If you want the information you have to promise not to ever harm anyone in this town again, that includes releasing Sidney."

"How can I be sure that this information is worth it?" he sneered.

"You'll never find out if you don't make the deal."

Gold's sigh of frustration was interrupted by the ringing of Regina's phone, looking down she saw that it was Emma _, it was just one hour_ she thought with an internal groan.

"You have until morning or I will never tell you," she said before turning to Graham, "keep him in the holding cell."

The sheriff nodded and Regina quickly answered on the last ring while walking out of the room.

"What did you do?" she asked instantly.

Emma sighed "he ran away."

"You just had to watch TV with him," she tried not to shout.

"I may have called him crazy," she answered in a near whisper.

"Why would you do that?" she asked indignantly, mostly because she regretted doing so for far too long.

"He said that he still believes in the fairytale thing, I just thought that he may have been cured or something. He said he wasn't seeing Dr Hopper anymore, and I told him that you didn't believe him either" the blonde defended.

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose, "I know exactly where he is, just go home," she sighed before hanging up without another word.

* * *

Five minutes later Regina pulled up to Henry's castle to see him leaning against it.

"How many times have I told you not to sit on wet mud," she teased as she walked towards him.

Henry looked up at her with a small smile, before placing his head back on his knees.

Regina just smiled back, before sitting next to him, completely forgetting what she had just said, and putting her arm around his shoulder.

"I did warn you that she would be difficult to convince," she whispered.

Henry tensed and he shifted away, "it wasn't her."

Regina looked at him in shock, "then what upset you so badly?"

"She said that you didn't believe me, was you just lying to me so that I would stop calling you evil?"

"Of course not, do you really think I could have made that elaborate story up," she laughed.

Henry thought about for a second before shifting back into her arm, "I think that you should show me the dragon," he mumbled against her shoulder.

Regina just let out a laugh, "how about a different kind of proof?" Henry looked at her curiously before she explained, "you know that in this timeline I have never seen your storybook?"

He nodded, "I've never let out of my sight, you didn't know about it until yesterday."

"Well ask me anything about it, except for the last pages," she chuckled.

"Why?" he asked.

"You ripped them out, apparently you didn't want me to know the story of the saviour until the curse broke," she replied while softly stroking his hair.

Henry frowned "this alternate me sounds like a jerk."

"Considering everything I did to her, I think it was justified," she laughed.

"At least you have another chance," he smiled, before standing up and extending his hand to help her up.

"I thought you wanted proof?" she asked.

"Well I've already read the book like three times, so why don't we go home and you can tell me everything it missed out," he suggested.

Regina took his hand with a huge smile, "that sounds like a great idea."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Emma dramatically ran into her new apartment and caught Mary Margaret's attention as she slammed the door.

"What happened?" she asked, putting down the flowers that she was smelling.

Emma looked at her curiously before explaining herself, "I screwed up."

"How?" she asked.

"I called the kid crazy and he ran away," she sighed, throwing herself on couch.

"Where is he?" she asked, shocked.

"Regina just texted me, she found him and took him home."

"Is she angry?" she asked, still looking rather shell shocked.

"I don't know," the blonde huffed, "she sent me home, but she invited me to breakfast tomorrow, so I'm confused," she pouted.

"You lost her son, she can't be happy."

Emma thought about, "she sounded more like something like it had happened before, she even knew where to find him."

"He has ran away before," Mary Margaret pointed out.

"Yeah, but she didn't know where to find him, why would she know now?" Emma frowned.

"I don't know, maybe she looked there first, why is everything a conspiracy to you?"

"I just feel like...I don't know, like some things have happened before and then other things are different it's really starting to mess with my mind."

Mary Margaret raised her eyebrow, "you know you sound insane, right?"

"This town is insane," Emma sighed as she sunk further into the couch.

"So are you going to breakfast then?"

Emma nodded before she realised something "who gave you flowers?"

"David," she smiled wistfully.

"David?" Emma asked.

"Oh right, they found out John Doe's name is David Nolan," she replied.

Emma grabbed the flowers and made to read the card, "how?" she asked before she got her answer. The card read 'thank you for your help from David and Kathryn Nolan.' "He's married?"

Mary Margaret cringed, "yeah."

"You know that you probably shouldn't have a crush on him then, right?"

Mary Margaret sighed, "its just a crush, it's not like I'm going to act on it. Besides I have a date with Doctor Whale tomorrow."

"Well let's hope your date goes well then."

"Lets hope yours does," she countered.

"Who said that it's a date?" Emma asked.

"Is Henry going?"

"No, we're going after he goes to school," the blonde frowned.

"Then it's obviously a date."

The colour drained from Emma's face, "but-"

"You've been out with her before," Mary Margaret laughed.

"That was different, we just met."

"It was yesterday," she shot back.

Emma thought about it and realised that she was right, "it's still different."

"Whatever you say," she chuckled before walking away to find a vase.

* * *

Regina opened her eyes and felt a weight on her arm, furrowing her brow she yawned and inspected the small shape next to her. She smiled realising that Henry had fallen asleep in her bed after she told him all about the Enchanted Forest, he just seemed so much happier when she wasn't lying to him, she was beginning to wonder why she ever thought it was a good idea.

"Henry," she said softly.

He mumbled "five more minutes mommy."

Regina couldn't hold back her laughter, "you need to get ready for school."

He groaned again, "but your bed is so comfortable," this time trying to burrow further into the mattress.

Shaking her head at his antics, she grabbed him by his waist and lightly tried to pull him off the bed, but in retaliation he went limp making it much harder.

"Henry" she tried to scold, but it came out as a half laugh.

"I'll get up in a minute," he mumbled.

Regina raised her eyebrow, until a thought occurred to her, "I'll tickle you awake if I have to."

Henry flipped over and looked her straight in the eye "you wouldn't."

She laughed "you know I would."

Deciding to call her bluff he turned back around and grabbed the pillow. Shaking her head she lauched forward and proceeded to tickle his sides, and he began to laugh and try and get away.

"Stop" he laughed.

"What was that? Carry on," she asked, and then continued to tickle him until rolled out of the bed.

"Fine I'm up," he said in mock outrage.

"Well you know next time not to cross me," she challenged.

Henry pretended to ponder this, "I think I'll take my chances," he replied before throwing the pillow that he had secretly stolen at her head and running out of the room.

Regina caught the pillow and laughed harder than she could ever remember, before she set off to chase her ten-year-old son to get him back.

 **A/N Sorry this is so short, but I really wanted to at least update, thankfully last exam tomorrow, should be able to update more often :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

 _"He's not your son, he's mine," the blonde shouted at the clearly hurt brunette._

 _Thrusting her arms forward, the blonde went flying backwards down the steps. Taking in a sharp intake of breath, she looked up at the other woman in complete shock. Before she could say anything however, she disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, and a woman with a pixie cut and a man came running to her side._

 _"Emma, are you okay?," the woman asked._

 _"_ Are you okay?" Mary Margaret asked again.

Emma shot up to see her concerned roommate's concerned face, "what?"

"Your alarm was going off and you look really like...distressed," she frowned, and she looked oddly maternal.

Emma shook her and sighed, "weird dream," she murmured.

Mary Margaret nodded, "well I made you some coffee, aren't you meeting Regina soon?"

Emma looked at her clock, "in about an hour," she sighed.

Mary Margaret nodded awkwardly again. She felt like she should be doing more, but she felt it would be ridiculous to ask a grown woman what her nightmare was, even though she really wanted to. If she was being completely honest, she felt like she wanted to envelop the blonde in a strong hug the moment she saw her, but she just didn't know why, and she had a feeling that she wouldn't accept it. After this thought entered her mind, she smiled and awkwardly left the room.

Emma sighed and leaned back against her bed. She was trying to decide whether it was a dream or a memory, and somehow she knew that it was the latter, but she refused to believe it. _I think I need to talk to Regina_ she thought.

* * *

Regina walked into the pawn shop, having been informed by Graham that Sidney seemed to be back to normal.

"I take it you agreed to my terms," she said as she walked up to him.

Belle ( _or Lacey?)_ walked out from the back and smiled at Gold, "what's going on?" she asked.

Rumple's expression softened when he saw her, "I just need to talk to Mayor Mills, have you finished the inventory?"

She shook her head, "nearly, are we still going for breakfast?"

"Ten minutes," she nodded and walked back to finish off.

"How did that happen?" Regina laughed.

"I gave her a job," he explained.

"Are you saying you was actually nice to her?" she chuckled.

"Well because of you she can't exactly remember, so I suppose it was my only option," he replied.

"It must be difficult to be nice to the woman that you love," she quipped.

"I believe that you have a deal to fulfil your majesty."

Regina nodded, "as long as you drew up a contract."

His jaw clenched and she laughed, sighing he pulled out a piece of paper from under the counter, "you know me far too well."

As she began to read she chuckled, "I believe it was you who inserted yourself into my life."

Once she had finally signed he replied "it was necessary, now tell me."

"He lives in New York, and once the curse is broken you can go and find him," she answered.

Nodding he sighed "I already knew that."

"But you didn't know that he is Henry's father."

Gold's eyes widened, "and why would you tell me that?"

"Lying never really got me anywhere, so I'm trying a new approach, it seems to be working well," she replied.

"And how do you plan to break the curse?" he asked, sounding almost desperate.

"I thought you would have some ideas about that, you did design the curse."

He thought for a moment, "the saviour needs to perform an act of true love, so it may take a while."

"What if she remembers what was supposed to happen?" Regina asked.

Frowning, Gold considered this, "well assuming that she truly loved someone in this alternate future, she would simply need to kiss that person and the curse would break."

Regina nodded, "why doesn't she remember, she stopped the trigger with me."

"I suppose that it's possible that she has all of the memories, but her sense of disbelief is preventing her from remembering."

Regina frowned "so I have to make her beli-" she was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle, "August," she exclaimed, before leaving the store without another word. Gold just looked at the queen in shock as she left.

Walking out onto Main Street, Regina saw the puppet pull up to Granny's.

Quickly walking over she stood in front of him, to be met with a curious look.

"Can I help you?" he asked, and Regina noticed fear behind his words.

"I believe that I may be able to help you with making Emma believe," she answered.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"Stop pretending Pinocchio, I know exactly why you're here, and we have a common goal."

He nodded, still looking very much like a fish out of water, "but that would break your curse," he whispered, suddenly very aware that they were getting strange looks from passersby, he gestured for them to walk into the diner.

"Well I prefer it to be broken," she replied as they took a seat.

He looked at her sceptically, "why?"

"It is very difficult to explain," she replied.

He shook his head, "so how do you suppose that I can help you?"

"I believe that you are able to help her...believe," she answered.

"And why should I trust you?" he huffed.

"You don't have to, I just suggest that you try," she answered.

He inspected her for a moment, clearly thinking overtime, only to be interrupted.

"Hey Regina," Emma said awkwardly.

Regina looked up at the blonde and smiled, and August's eyes widened, having figured out exactly why the queen wanted the curse to be broken.

"I was just welcoming our newest visitor, August, this is Emma Swan," she explained.

Emma nodded and looked at the man curiously, _he is definitely familiar_ she inwardly sighed.

"It's nice to meet you," she replied, still inspecting Regina, still thinking about the woman throwing her backwards, all she could imagine was the look of utter rage she had seen in her dream.

August offered her smile, "thank you Mayor Mills," he replied, and quickly scampered away to another table after a few moments of awkward silence.

Emma took his seat "are you always this nice to visitors?"

"Well as Mayor I fully support tourism," she replied with a smile.

"Storybrooke doesn't seem like a very touristy place," Emma frowned.

"All the more reason to be inviting to the visitors that we do get," Regina smiled.

Emma sighed, "why are you always lying?"

Regina frowned, and she felt guilt at realising she had been honest with almost everyone except the blonde, "it may be hard to believe."

"Try me," she replied.

Looking around, Regina noticed no one in the diner looking their way, "everything Henry said is true."

Emma just let out a nervous laugh and stood up, "you're all insane," she muttered, before leaving the diner.

Regina sighed and August tentatively walked over, "didn't work?"

"It most certainly didn't work," she sighed.

* * *

Gold smirked down as he shone a UV light on the bottom of the contract. He had actually fooled to queen into allowing him to put a sleeping curse on her son. He wanted the curse to be broken more than anything, and so he had taken another look into the future, so all he had to do was acquire a poison apple and he would be reunited with his son very soon.

 **A/N Sorry for the wait, you can probably expect another update at some point tonight, tomorrow at the latest, please review and let me know what you think :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

Graham and August stared expectantly at Regina as she paced the sheriff's station.

She stopped and looked as if she was about to say something, but simply closed her mouth and continued pacing.

"Err...Regina, is there something wrong?" Graham asked.

August turned to him, "she freaked Emma out."

He nodded, "and who are you?"

"August," he smiled.

"Graham," he said extending his hand, "so what did you do?"

"I told her that the curse is real," she grumbled.

"Why?" Graham asked.

"She asked me to stop lying to her," she huffed and sat down.

"How did she know that you were lying?" the sheriff asked, clearly confused.

"She has this...superpower thing...it's not important, the point is that I ruined everything, she's probably going to leave town," she said while putting her head in her hands.

"She won't leave," August said.

"What makes you so sure?"

"She's the saviour, she can't leave until the curse is broken," he replied. Regina looked at him in shock, and he explained, "I've done my research. Apparently she can't cross the town line until the curse is broken."

Regina thought about it, "you're right, that's what happened last time," she answered.

"What?" the puppet laughed.

"She knows the future," Graham answered without looking away from the mayor.

"Oh," August replied meekly.

"So what do you suppose I do?" she asked.

"You're the one that knows the future," he laughed, still somewhat disbelieving.

"I don't know everything that happened," she sighed.

"Well how would I know?" he countered.

"What do I do in the future?" Graham asked curiously.

Regina felt the throat go dry and shook her head.

"You crushed my heart didn't you?" he laughed.

"You're okay with that?" she asked shell shocked.

"How can I be mad at you for something that an alternate you did, besides you made it up to me," he shrugged. "But why did you crush it?"

Regina blushed, "you kissed Emma."

He shook his head, "I wouldn't worry about that, your majesty, I actually asked Ruby out," he said proudly.

August looked between them, "are you two friends?"

"Why not?" Graham shrugged his shoulders again, "anyway, what do you want us to do about Emma?"

"I don't know," she sighed, "I should really go and pick Henry up."

Each man nodded and watched the mayor leave.

* * *

Emma walked back into the empty apartment and fell onto the couch.

Looking up at the ceiling, she considered what Regina had told her, and she just couldn't allow it to be true, even though she was beginning to believe it more and more with each passing moment.

But why would she believe it? She had after all, stopped believing in fairytales at a fairly young age, there was just no room for it in foster care.

But then she thought about the déjà vu that she had been having the past two days. Every person in this town was familiar, and she felt like she had been to all the places in this town a hundred times over. Logically she had tried to convince herself that she had only been here for two days, she had only just met these people and her son and his adoptive mother were both insane. Maybe this was Regina's way of making sure that she never wanted to return to try and take her son back. But she knew that this theory couldn't be right either, she just felt such a strong connection to the brunette. She had to admit that it actually felt good to hear her tell the truth, even if she only believed it to be true because she was completely and utterly insane. And the strangest thing out of all of this was that she just wished that Mary Margaret wasn't at work so that she could talk to her about all of this.

* * *

Regina and Henry walked into their home, and Regina noticed that her son was being uncharacteristically silent, "what is it, Henry?"

He bit his lip, but decided that he couldn't hide anything from her after moaning at her for so long, "Mr Gold visited me at school."

"WHAT!" Regina shouted.

"Mom, calm down, he actually made a good point."

She rose her eyebrow, and he brought a container out of his bag containing a apple turnover, "Henry," she warned.

"No listen, he said that if I go under the sleeping curse, then it will force Emma to admit that she loves me, and she can break the curse like she did in the future."

"She doesn't love you yet," Regina warned, trying to take the container away from him.

"But it was true love right, she just has to have the potential to love me," he reasons.

She shook her head, "that's not how it works, she has to remember loving you."

"Remember?"

Regina sighed, "I think that she has her memories like I do, but her disbelief is preventing her from fully remembering."

Henry nodded, "then it will force her to remember," he said while taking the lid off the container.

"Henry Daniel Mills, put that down right now," she scolded.

He shook his head, "we have to try."

He was about to pick it up and bring to his mouth, only to have the pastry snatched out his hand.

"Mom," he whined.

Regina looked at it, "I will not allow you to go under a sleeping curse."

Henry sighed, "Mr Gold said that you signed a contract that said I have to."

Regina shook her head, "I read it twice, it most certainly did not say that."

"He said that you would say that, so he gave me a copy," he held out the paper and gave her the UV light, "I know that he tricked you, so don't worry I'm not mad."

She shone the light, "it doesn't say that you have to, it says that a Mills has to go under the curse," she frowned.

Henry shrugged his shoulders, "he said that he couldn't risk something happening to me before he got the chance to give me the curse, something about covering all of his bases."

Regina looked from Henry to the pastry and then to the contract, "if she can't wake you up then I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Henry offered her a small smile, and reached out to take the turnover, "you just have to believe."

Regina thought about having to live without Henry, she knew that there was no way she could allow Henry to be asleep for eternity. Looking at the contract it was quite clear that someone would have to take on this curse, but she knew that this person would not be her son if she had any say about it. She shook her head, "I can't take that chance," and without hesitation she bit into the apple turnover.

 **A/N Just so it's clear, Regina went under the curse for Henry, she wasn't really thinking about Emma breaking it for her, hope that clears up any confusion :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Emma huffed as she got in her car.

She had come to the conclusion that she should try and hear Regina out, and that this was something that she definitely couldn't wait to do. Racing over to Milfin Street, she tried to decide what she should say. At the moment she was just trying to not just turn to leave Storybrooke and never look back.

Slamming the door of her car, she frowned seeing that that the front door was open.

Walking up the steps, she crossed over the threshold, "Regina? Henry?" she unintentionally whispered.

She was about to call out louder, only to notice the two of them standing not far away, neither of them having noticed her.

"You just have to believe," Henry insisted, and Emma frowned, were they still talking about the 'curse'.

"I can't take that chance," Regina replied, and took a bite out of a pastry.

Emma rose her eyebrow, _what are they talking about?_ she thought. She was about to make her presence known, but the words died on her tongue as the brunette fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Mom!" Henry shouted as he ran towards her.

"What the hell?" Emma said as she sank onto her knees next to the mayor, he quickly placed a kiss on her forehead, only to frown when nothing happened.

Henry looked up at the blonde, "kiss her," he demanded.

"What?" she choked out as she placed her hand on Regina's pulse point.

"You need to break the sleeping curse, kiss her now!"

"Henry, this is real life," she replied while pulling out her phone.

"Yes it is real life, she ate the poisoned apple to stop me from eating it."

Emma shook her head and called 911.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Emma and Henry sat in waiting room, and Henry mumbled "why can't you just believe?"

"Because I'm aware of the difference between reality and fantasy," she replied.

Henry looked at her in disbelief, "you saw her eat it, you know what happened."

"No, I saw her eat something that she may be allergic to, or maybe there was some kind of poison in it," she answered rather harshly. "Once the doctor has looked at her, she'll be fine."

He shook his head "Dr Whale won't be able to break the curse."

Emma sighed and crossed her arms, "so why did you want to eat it."

"Because Mr Gold tricked her into signing a contract," he replied.

"Why would she agree to feed you poison?" she asked indignantly.

"He used an invisible pen, you know when you can only see it with UV light," he answered.

"Then this 'contract' is null and void," she scoffed.

"It's different in the Enchanted Forest," he replied.

"How so?"

"You know, magic and stuff," he mumbled.

"You don't know, do you?" she said with a small laugh.

"Well I was born in this realm, but I know that Rumplestiltskin tricked a lot of people," he answered.

Emma sighed, "just drop it kid."

Henry frowned and turned away from her while they waited.

* * *

"Emma?" Mary Margaret asked, noticing the blonde in the waiting room.

"Mary Margaret, why are you here?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was visiting David," she blushed.

"I thought that he's married," she replied.

"Well it turns out that Kathryn had the marriage dissolved a long time ago because she thought he would never come back," Mary Margaret answered.

Emma frowned, "I thought Kathryn wanted to stay with him."

Mary Margaret shook her head, "she said that she talked to Regina about it, apparently she doesn't love him anymore, she just offered to be around to answer any of his questions. She actually said that this guy named Jim asked her out."

"That seems too easy," Emma frowned.

"You would prefer it be more difficult?" she laughed.

Emma shook her head, "it just usually is."

Mary Margaret felt unexplainable guilt, but tried to move past it, "anyway...why are you here?"

"Regina," Emma sighed.

"What happened?"

"She fell unconscious, I think that she an allergic reaction or something."

"She's not allergic to apples," Henry announced.

Emma rolled her eyes, "wasn't you getting food?"

He nodded, "I need another dollar."

"Why?"

"So I can get hot chocolate," he said as if it were obvious.

Emma sighed and dug five dollars out of her pocket, "get me one."

"Fine," he said before walking away.

"He seems...different," Mary Margaret frowned.

"He thinks that Regina is under a sleeping curse and he's mad that I wouldn't kiss her," Emma sighed deeper.

"Well what could it hurt to try?" she asked with a tilted head.

"Because it's insane," Emma said louder than intended.

"I know, but to Henry it makes perfect sense, when it doesn't work he can move onto other lines of thought. Maybe he'll stop being so angry with you," she offered.

Emma nodded, "fine, you make a good point."

* * *

Henry and Emma walked into Regina's room half an hour later, after being told that Whale had no idea what was wrong.

She looked oddly peaceful despite the situation.

Emma noticed, with a pang in her stomach, that she was hooked up to numerous machines, with a oxygen tube running up through her nose.

"What the hell happened?" she mumbled.

"I told you what happened," Henry replied to the rhetorical question.

Emma sighed, "if I test your theory will you stop acting like a five year old?"

Henry's face lit up, and nodded vigorously.

Emma walked over to the woman in the bed, and she couldn't help but feel incredibly creeped out at the prospect of kissing an unconscious woman.

She looked at Henry to make sure that this was some elaborate prank and he gestured for her to continue.

She breathed deep for a moment, before leaning down and placing a soft kiss to the woman's lips.

Rising up she looked at Henry, not exactly sure why she didn't want to look at the mayor. Henry continued smiling for a few moments, before his expression fell.

He ran forward and placed his hand on his mother's arm, "mom please wake up," he begged.

Emma sat down on one of the chairs feeling defeated, _how can you be disappointed, Swan?_

 _ **A/N Sorry for any confusion from the last chapter, I just need Regina to be under the sleeping curse, if you have any ideas as to how this should've happened, just write it in a review or PM and I would be happy to alter the last couple chapters if you guys think that they can be better :)**_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N I've changed chapter 11 so that it has to be a Mills who eats the turnover, thank you** ** _QueenApples_** **for the suggestion XD, hope it you guys feel that it helps the story :) Hope you guys enjoy the chapter :)**

Chapter thirteen

 _"What's he doing with my son?" Regina asked angrily._

 _"He's Henry's father," Emma replied, trying to remain calm._

 _"And when were you planning to tell me this," she countered._

 _The blonde let out a dramatic sigh, "relax."_

 _The brunette just rolled her eyes and walked away, not noticing the saviour staring longingly after her._

Emma opened her eyes and groaned, "just a dream," she mumbled.

Henry walked into the guest room at the mansion that Emma had opted to stay in holding a piece of paper.

Emma sighed and took it, "what is this?"

"Well I was thinking that my kiss should have woke her up, so I thought that I should look at the contract again. It says that only the saviour will be able to break the curse," he explained.

Emma began to massage her temples, "Henry, she is not cursed."

"Then explain why she's suddenly in a coma," he replied defiantly.

"Do I look like a doctor?" she countered.

Henry shook his head, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, "I can't believe I actually tried to find you, you're a horrible person."

"Henry wait," Emma shouted as he turned to leave the room. She jumped out of bed and walked over to him, "I know I'm being an ass, I'm sorry about your mom but please stop talking about curses."

He huffed, but gave her a small nod, "will you take me to see her?"

Emma nodded, "you can see her for about half an hour while you have breakfast, then...I guess that you should go to school, right?"

He gave a small smile, "getting the hang of this are we?"

"Go and get ready," she pointed and he just shook his head and walked away.

* * *

Regina opened her eyes and looked around.

She began to feel panic rising seeing nothing but dark oblivion surrounding her, it reminded her far too much of the optical illusions that her mother had employed as punishments.

"Regina?" a voice called out.

Said woman felt herself relax as she recognised the voice, "Emma," she said happily turning around, only to be met with another person entirely. She sat back down and put her head in her hands, "I'm going mad."

She was met with a masculine chuckle, "don't worry Gina, anything is possible in this plane of existence."

"Which is?" she asked.

Daniel sat next to her and offered a small smile, "I suppose you could call it limbo, or purgatory."

She placed her head on his shoulder, "you've been here all these years?" she asked sadly.

He began to stroke his hand softly down her hair, "I'm not prepared to move on until I know that you're happy."

She scoffed, "then you'll be here for a lot longer, then again I suppose I'll probably be here with you."

"I'm not so sure," he replied.

"Why?" she asked with a small sniffle.

"Well you've clearly found your true love."

Regina shook her head, "I think that may be a leap, I've based everything off one look when we were both about to die."

"One look is all it takes, remember how we met?" he asked softly.

Regina smiled, "you were terrified of my mother yelling at you, and I smiled at you before she ordered me to leave. You brought me flowers for making you feel better."

"In that moment I knew you would be the best thing in my life, and from what I have seen this Emma Swan feels the same."

"Seen?" she asked sadly, realising just how short his life was.

"I've been watching you every moment since I got here, how else would I know whether you were happy?" he replied.

"You've seen everything I've done?" she asked fearfully, as tears actually began to fall.

He nodded and made a small shushing noise, "I know that the Evil Queen was a persona."

"You must have been so disappointed in me, I became exactly like my mother," she cried.

He shook his head, "you became what you had to in order to get your happy ending. If you never cast the curse Henry would never have existed."

"But my father would be alive," she sighed.

"I would give up my life any day for your happiness," another voice joined.

Regina looked up from Daniel's shoulder, "daddy," she shouted as she launched forward and hugged him, "I'm so sorry," she mumbled against his shoulder.

He let out a small laugh of joy as he brought his arms around his daughter, "it's okay child, I forgave you instantly."

"How?" she choked out.

"A parent would do anything for their child, something that you clearly understand. I am so proud of you, Regina," he cooed.

She let herself smile at his words and hugged him tighter.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked softly.

Daniel stood up and walked over to the pair, "you have to wait for this Emma to believe."

 _I am going to be here for a while,_ she inwardly sighed.

* * *

"She ate a poisoned pastry?" August asked.

Graham nodded, "now she's under a sleeping curse and Henry says that Emma is the only one who can break it."

"Rather ironic," August mumbled.

"So what was your plan for making her believe?" the sheriff asked.

"I didn't really think that far ahead," he frowned.

"What?" Graham laughed.

"I was focused on not turning back to wood," he replied only to be met with a surprised look, "oh relax, it's not the strangest thing you've ever heard."

"It's definitely up there," he chuckled.

"Well we need a plan if Regina is ever going to wake up," Graham sighed.

"You seriously wouldn't be happier if the queen died, the curse would break," August pointed out.

"If you asked me twenty-eight years ago then the answer would be yes, but she's different now," he replied. They each sat in silence for a moment before a thought occurred to the hunter, "that dirty little imp."

"What?" August asked in surprise.

"Henry said that the contract said that a Mills had to eat the turnover. He probably knows that Emma won't believe anytime soon, so he tricked Regina into eating it."

"What if the kid had ate it before he got home?" he asked sceptically.

"Then Regina would have done everything in her power to make Emma believe, but if Regina dies then the curse breaks. Either way he gets what he wants," he said exasperated.

"But I thought that the sleeping curse only makes a person you know...sleep," he answers, clearly confused.

"Yes in the Enchanted Forest, but there's no magic here so she's essentially being poisoned."

"And how do you know this?" August asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She explained it to me."

"Why?" he laughed.

"You know, the whole villain monologue thing, she explained it before sending me to give it to Snow White."

"Oh, you're the hunter," August said triumphantly, "I was trying to figure it out."

"Why didn't you ask Pinocchio?" he asked with a laugh.

"This way was much more fun, and how do you know who I am?"

"Turning back to wood is a dead giveaway, speaking of which I think that you and Regina both need magic ," he said.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" he replied.

"We really need someone who knows the future," the sheriff sighed.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

Emma stood awkwardly as Henry whispered to his comatose mother. Whale had told her that they had exhausted every test that they had, all he had found out was that Regina was being poisoned by something that didn't match the symptoms in any database. He had no idea what was wrong with her, but had promised to keep trying. Emma suspected that the last part was for Henry's benefit, so she decided to slip away to have a more adult conversation with the doctor.

"Whale," she called, and he sighed and walked back to her.

"Was it that obvious that I was lying?" he asked.

"I think you got the kid's hopes up, but please tell me what you actually think is happening to her."

He sighed again in resignation, "well she is being poisoned but there is no way to tell by what. I have tried about ten different antidotes for the most common types of poison, but without knowing what it is there is really nothing we can do but wait."

"How long?" Emma asked.

Whale shook his head, "well there's always the chance that one of the medications will..."

"How long?" she asked again.

"Based on the rate that the poison is moving through her system, I would give it a week."

"A week?" she choked out. "Who is Henry's legal next of kin?"

Whale shook his head, "Regina isn't a very popular person Deputy, or at least she wasn't, it was just her and Henry."

Emma leaned against the wall and put her hands over her face, desperately trying to hold back tears, _I've only known this woman for two days,_ she thought. But somehow she knew it would be wrong to have to live without her.

"What am I going to do?" she asked, looking at the doctor with a few stray tears having managed to escape.

He put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm afraid I am quite inept when it comes to legal guardianship, you would need to talk to Mr Gold."

Emma nodded, "thank you," she said before a thought occurred to her, "did you test the turnover?"

He nodded sadly, "I'm afraid that as far as we can tell it's just a normal pastry."

Emma sighed and offered him a small smile, before returning to her son.

"Where'd you go?" Henry asked, while still holding his mother's hand.

"Bathroom," she lied.

* * *

"Emma?" Mary Margaret asked curiously, having stopped placing books on tables.

Emma smiled at her, she just couldn't understand why she had to go to this woman with every problem, but to be fair she didn't seem to mind.

"How do you tell a ten-year-old that his mother is going to die in a week?" she asked.

Mary Margaret's eyebrows went up in shock, and she just shook her head, "it wasn't an allergic reaction then?"

"Whale said that she's been poisoned and he has no idea what it is," she sighed.

Mary Margaret walked over to the blonde, and she could no longer resist so she just threw her arms around her hurting friend. To her surprise the blonde instantly hugged her back.

"What am I going to do?" she mumbled against her shoulder.

"You just have to tell him the truth," the brunette answered.

"He'll hate me forever, won't he?" Emma asked, pulling away from the hug.

Mary Margaret nodded, "he'll probably blame you at first, but it will pass, he'll think that by getting you he caused all of this."

"What if that's true?" Emma asked with a downward look.

"Did you poison her?"

Emma shook her head "of course not!"

"Then it's not your fault, Henry can be excused from class to spend time with her though," Mary Margaret answered.

"You can do that?" Emma asked with a small laugh.

"How heartless do you think the principle is?" she asked.

"Fair point," Emma replied with a small smile.

They were then interrupted by the bell, Emma turned to see children filing into the room, some of them giving her curious looks.

Henry walked up to the blonde, "why are you here?" he asked, and Emma winced at the harshness.

"I need to talk to you kid, Miss Blanchard excused you from class," she replied.

Henry looked between the two adults, and he knew that it must be something bad, "my mom would kill you for making me miss school."

Emma let out a small laugh, and put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure she would understand this once."

Henry shrugged her hand off his shoulder and mumbled, "whatever," before going off in search of his backpack.

Mary Margaret offered her a supportive smile, before turning to begin her lesson.

* * *

"So what is it?" Henry asked impatiently, as Emma paced the living room of her apartment.

Emma blew out a breath, "hang on," she said before running to the kitchen.

Henry sighed and got off the couch to follow her, "what are you doing?"

"You need cocoa," she explained.

Henry rolled his eyes, "you're trying too hard, just tell me."

Emma put the cocoa down and sighed, "I just don't want this to be traumatic."

Henry felt panic rise, "tell me!" he demanded.

"Okay," Emma said after a moment, "Whale didn't tell you everything."

Henry frowned, "he lied?"

 _You're screwing this up_ Emma thought, "he just didn't feel able to tell you something."

Henry felt frustration build, "what didn't he tell me?"

"Well...errr...he thinks that unless they figure out what the poison is soon, then your mom...you know...she'll..."

"She'll what?" he asked in a small voice.

"He said that at the rate the poison is moving, she won't...survive the week," she said, desperately trying to gauge his reaction, though she knew that it was not going to be at all positive.

Henry stared at her blankly for a moment, before shaking his head, "that's not what a sleeping curse does."

"Henry" she warned, trying to walk up to him.

"No!" he shouted, "stay away from me, you're not my mom."

Emma recoiled, "you're right I'm not. Is there someone you would rather talk to?"

Henry nodded, "Graham."

Emma tilted her head, "the sheriff?"

"He's kind of the closest thing I have to a dad," he explained.

The blonde nodded, "okay, I'll take you to talk to Graham."

"Without you?" he asked.

"Yes, without me," she sighed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

"Just text me when you want to go to the hospital," Emma said with a weak smile.

Henry nodded and walked over to the sheriff, who seemed to have been deep in conversation with that August man. Graham offered her a small smile before she walked out of the station.

"What's up, Hen?" Graham asked.

Henry stood for a moment, considering his words, "how do sleeping curses work?"

Graham's eyebrows rose, "it's pretty much in the name."

"Dr Whale said that mom won't survive the week, he's wrong isn't he?" he asked desperately.

August and Graham exchanged a look, and the puppet, "the Evil Queen has a son?"

"Don't call her that!" Henry shouted.

August held up his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry, I should have said Regina."

Henry nodded and let out a small sniffle, "she adopted me. Who are you?"

"Aug...Pinocchio," he smiled.

Henry tilted his head, "but you're an adult."

"I came through the wardrobe with Emma," he explained. Graham gave him an accusatory look, "what?"

"That reminds me, why didn't you protect her like you were supposed to."

"I..." he tried but no words came out.

Henry interrupted, "it's not important, you never answered my question."

Graham sighed, "without magic to sustain the curse, she is being...poisoned."

"She can't die," he exclaimed.

Graham stood and pulled the boy into a hug, "shhhh...we won't let that happen."

"We?" he asked.

"You, me and August," he explained.

"It doesn't seem like he wants to help," Henry replied.

August looked between the two of them and let out a dramatic sigh, "of course I want to help. The queen does seem...like a different person."

Henry nodded sadly, "she is."

Silence fell over the trio, with Henry's sniffles being the only sound.

Henry thought over what Graham had told him, "so we need magic?"

Graham nodded, "yeah, that's about as far as we got."

Henry bit his lip in concentration, "my mom did say something about a dragon."

"In Storybrooke?" Graham asked nervously.

Henry nodded, "if there's a dragon, there's magic right?"

Graham sighed, _why did it have to be a dragon?_

* * *

Emma walked into the Pawn Shop, she was actually quite eager to meet this infamous Mr Gold that she had heard so much about.

"Miss Swan," he greeted, only to be met with a distrusting look, "it is a small town deputy, very difficult to fly under the radar."

Emma nodded, "I was told that you're the closest thing that this town has to a lawyer."

Mr Gold nodded, "you have a question."

"Well I guess you know about the mayor."

The shop owner showed a small smile, and Emma felt her jaw clench, "news does travel fast."

"Well...I'm not keen on the idea of Henry ending up in foster care, so I was hoping you had a way of finding him a good permanent home."

"Quite crass, didn't you just get the news."

Emma sighed; she knew that this is not something that she should be doing so soon. But she was not fond of the idea of having nothing to do, she liked to plan ahead so that she didn't have to deal with present time emotions, "I just want to make sure the system doesn't make things worse for him."

Gold nodded, "I believe that her adoption contract said that in the event of her death, parental rights would return to the biological parents."

Emma's eyes widened, "I didn't see that in the contract."

"I'm guessing that an eighteen year old that just had a child didn't read the small print," he smirked.

"Okay, then why would she agree to that?"

"This may surprise you Miss Swan, but our dear mayor doesn't have anyone that she would be willing to give guardianship to."

 _Or she never thought she would die in her own cursed town,_ Emma's eyes widened, _where did that thought come from?_

She just tried to push it aside, "and what if I can't look after him?"

"Then he would be put into foster care," he replied.

Emma felt her fists clench, and she let out a sigh, "how do you know so much about this?"

"I arranged the adoption."

"You arranged for the Evil Queen to adopt the saviour's child?" Gold looked at her in shock and Emma swallowed hard, "I think the kid's getting to me. Please ignore that."

Gold nodded, _maybe the queen doesn't have to die,_ he thought, "young Henry does seem quite adamant in his beliefs."

"That he is," Emma sighed.

* * *

"She's messing this up," Regina shouted as she watched Henry say that she wasn't his mom, though she couldn't help but feel a flutter of happiness at his words.

"She grew up in a world without magic, it's unfair to expect her to believe that her son's adoptive mother is under a sleeping curse," Daniel laughed.

Regina looked at him with narrowed eyes, but he was in no way afraid and held her gaze, she sighed, "well when you say it like that."

Laughing he stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder, "just be patient."

"I can't just watch, I feel like I need to do something."

"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to intervene, but there's just nothing we can do," he said softly.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

With a tilted head he asked, "for what?"

"If you had never met me then you may have been happy, and after all these years you're pushing for me to be with another," she sighed.

"Regina look at me," he replied while placing his palm on the side of her face. After a moment she did what he asked, "I would stay here for a hundred life times if I got to watch you be truly happy for even a minute."

"I was happy with Henry," she offered.

Daniel nodded, "I don't doubt it. But he is still a child, I truly believe that he is part of your happy ending, but he is not all that you need. Every day I saw how happy you were with him, but I could tell that something was missing."

"Yes, you," she said softly.

He shook his head, "I know that you love me, but that doesn't change the fact that I was just your first love. But I know that you were my true love, so of course I would wish for you to be with your true love."

Regina sighed, "how can you be accepting of all of this."

He let out a small laugh, "for the first few years I was pretty irritated. I desperately wished that Frankenstein's experiment would work, but I also saw how utterly destroyed you were, and I began to wish for you to move on."

"I never did," she frowned.

"Well I would be pretty insulted if you completely moved on," he laughed, only to be met with a playful punch to his arm. "I know it doesn't feel like you moved on, but the fact is that you can love those who have passed and still continue to live."

"You sound like you have been thinking this through," she said with a small chuckle.

"I've been wishing to tell you this for a long time, if I can wait over forty years, then you can wait at least a week."

"Maybe it would be easier if she never wakes me up."

"Don't say that," he frowned.

"If I did die then the curse would break and Emma could be with her parents. Rumple could get Neal, and he, Emma and Henry could be a real family, they could live without complication. Henry could be happy," she sighed.

"He seemed to have been happy over the past few days."

"Yes, but I was being fully candid with him and actively trying to be good. If I do wake up then I'm bound to do something wrong and lose him again."

Daniel sighed, "or if you wake up, you and Emma live happily ever after with your son having three parents who all love him. Surely three parents are better then two." When Regina didn't reply he continued, "he doesn't want you to die, and it is not something that he would just get over. Do you really think that he could lose you and then replace you with his so called father."

"Neal isn't that bad," she replied, before realising what she said she added, "I never said that."

Daniel laughed and put his arm around her shoulder, "my lips are sealed."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

The bell over the pawn shop rung out again, as Graham strode in, followed closely by Henry and August.

Gold raised his eyebrow at the trio, "how can I help you?"

"You know exactly how you can help us," Graham seethed.

He simply shook his head.

"We need magic to come to Storybrooke," Henry piped up.

Gold laughed.

"What's funny?" Henry asked.

"You know, if you wait a week, the curse will break itself," he pointed out.

Henry shook his head, "NO!" he shouted.

"Had quite the change of heart haven't we?"

"What do you mean, I never wanted my mom to die," he said with tears threatening to fall.

"Yes, well your dear mother remembers quite a different past, one where you made her believe that you couldn't care less."

Henry shook his head vigorously, "none of that ever happened."

"It did to her," he smirked, picking up a random trinket he said, "how about a demonstration?"

Henry narrowed his eyes, as Gold crushed it in his hand, blowing the dust, it began to embed itself on a mirror. Instantly an unfamiliar scene appeared. Henry could tell that he was slightly older here, his mother standing in front of him with watery eyes.

 _"Henry please," she begged._

 _"No, I found my real mom, and I have my dad now, I don't need you. Why can't you just leave me alone, I hate you!" he shouted._

 _Regina nodded, giving him a weak watery smile, "okay," she said, before making to walk away._

 _A bell rang behind Henry and Emma ran out, "Henry?"_

 _He looked at his blonde mother and launched into a hug, "what's wrong?"_

 _"Nothing," he replied._

The image disappeared from the mirror, but Henry continued to look at it blankly. "Why would I do that?" he cried after a moment.

"My point, Henry, is that you can get over her death," Gold said casually.

Henry shook his head, "I must have been an idiot, I clearly didn't even give her a chance. I won't let you take away her second chance."

"Believe me, she is on a far higher number than two chances," Gold replied.

"No, that was the Evil Queen that was given all of those chances, we are talking about Regina," Graham said, "now tell us what we need to know."

"And why would I do that?" he sneered.

"Because, you'll eventually run out of trinkets to use for magic, if we succeed , than the curse will break and you will have an unlimited source of power," August offered.

Gold looked at him sceptically, "and if the dear saviour does not break the curse, I will still be trapped here, with an asleep but very much alive queen."

"She will break the curse, it's her destiny, right?" August replied.

"I may be a very patient man, puppet, but even an immortal has their limits. I need to get my son back so that he can meet his son."

"What?" Graham asked.

"My son is Henry's father," he replied with a triumphant smile.

Each man looked at the boy expectantly. Henry just looked at Gold, "so you're my grandfather."

Gold nodded, looking at the boy cautiously.

"Do you think that your son would ever love you again if you ruined your own grandson's life!" he shot at him.

"You would have both of your parents," he defended.

"Emma and whoever your son is, are not my parents!" he shouted.

"But they can be, eventually."

"Eventually isn't good enough. Neither of them were there to look after me, Emma doesn't know what I'm allergic to, she doesn't know who my favourite superhero is, what my favourite book is, what song makes me feel better when I'm sick. And I'm willing to bet that your _son_ doesn't even know that I exist!" he shouted

Gold looked at the boy, completely dumbstruck. All he wanted to do was an uncomplicated family for his son, he was sure the queen would be a barrier. But he also knew what it was like to be abandoned by a parent, and to love those that raised you no matter what.

"How could I be so foolish?" he sighed.

Henry looked up at him in hope, "so you'll help?"

"I don't see that you have given me any choice."

Graham and August exchanged a look, "okay, so what do we need to do?" Graham asked.

"I'm afraid that this is a task that the saviour must complete."

Henry groaned, "why?"

"Years ago I asked her father to place a source of true love magic, inside a very powerful creature. As far as I know, your mother had quite the feud with Maleficent, so her curse was to remain in dragon form, trapped and helpless."

"The magic is inside Maleficent?" Graham choked out.

"Calm down sheriff, even if you tried you would not be able to get the magic source. The source comes from Snow White and Prince Charming, so only they or a product of their love can possibly get what we need to save the queen."

"How do you feel about sending David Nolan in with a sword?" August said.

Graham shot him a dirty look, "so we're back to the whole making Emma believe, it makes it kind of pointless to even send her to the dragon."

"True Love is a form of magic hunter, assuming that the saviour does in fact love the queen, there would still need to be a source of magic to make it true love."

The two men and the boy each sighed.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Henry asked desperately.

Gold pondered this for a moment, "well she just needs to remember the past that she has already lived through, and I believe that the process has already begun."

"Will it take less than a week?" August questioned.

Gold shook his head, "the saviour is quite stubborn, it could take years."

"You've seen the future, what makes her believe?"

Gold shook his head, he had actually spent more time thinking of ways to hurt Regina, "she saw you eat the turnover, then she picked up the story book..."

"She hasn't read the story book!" Henry shouted, before running out of the shop.

Graham and August each gave Gold a half appreciative and half dirty look, before quickly following the boy onto Main Street.

 **A/N My alerts don't seem to be working properly, so I would appreciate if your a follower of this story if you could let me know whether you got an alert, also if you follow me, whether you got the alert for my new story 'Will You Be My Saviour?' Thanks guys :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

 _"You should tell her how you feel," Snow chuckled._

 _"I accused her of murder, what makes you think she'll ever like me back," Emma sniffled._

 _"Well it kind of makes sense."_

 _"Why do you mean?" the blonde asked with a furrowed brow._

 _"As horrified as I was when I realised that you love her, it makes sense that the saviour has to save everyone," she reasoned, while putting her arm around her daughter._

 _"Horrified?" Emma laughed, "don't you think you're being a tad dramatic?"_

 _"Your father went looking for his sword when he found out," she countered._

 _Emma's mouth fell open._

 _"I hid it," she chuckled, and Emma let out a sigh of relief._

"Emma," Mary Margaret lightly shook her.

"Mom," she said, before shaking her head, "I meant Mary Margaret."

"Because they sound so alike," she smirked, "don't worry, someone calls me mom at least once a day."

Emma rubbed the side of her face, "I'm not a ten year student."

"Why were you asleep?" she asked, while walking over to pick something off the desk.

"I must have dozed off, what time is it?"

"Lunch time, I forgot to take these reports to school," she explained.

Emma nodded, grabbing her phone; she saw that she had no texts from Henry.

"The kid must still be with Graham," she frowned.

"He just needs time," she assured.

Emma shook her head and sighed, "no, he needs his mom, she would probably know exactly what to do."

Mary Margaret nodded, "I wouldn't lose hope, a lot can happen in a week. Just think about the last few days," she laughed.

"Your suggestion is to have hope?" Emma asked with an exasperated look, "and you wonder why Henry thinks your Snow White."

"What harm could having hope do?" she chuckled.

"Ever heard of false hope, "Emma sighed.

Mary Margaret frowned, and came and sat next to her. Emma had the urge to put her head on her shoulder as she had done in the dream, but resisted it.

"My point is that you shouldn't just accept that she's going to die, and neither should Henry."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you should try every option, Henry will regret it for the rest of his life if you don't try everything. Even the magical suggestions," she replied with a supportive smile.

"So you're saying that I should pretend to believe?" Emma sighed.

"I'm saying that believing in a little magic isn't going to hurt Henry, but pushing him to not believe will only waste his remaining days with his mother," she smiled sadly.

Emma nodded, "how do you know all of this stuff?"

"I'm a teacher," she laughed.

"Most teachers don't care that much to try and understand every kid."

Mary Margaret thought about it, "I guess I just always wanted to be a mother."

Emma gulped and thought back to her dream, "you're going to be an amazing one."

* * *

 _"So, we're just going to, like set her like an reading assignment," August laughed._

 _"No, I'll just ask her to read to mom," Henry replied, as he looked through the book for the best section._

 _Graham sighed as he watched Regina's chest rise and fall, he couldn't believe that he was wishing so hard for her to wake up._

 _"Do you think she can hear us?" he asked after a moment._

 _Henry nodded, "I hope so."_

Regina smiled as she watched the exchange, wishing that she could reply.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her mother.

Her throat instantly went dry, "h-how?"

"You didn't think I would miss a chance to talk to you?" she smiled softly.

"But...you're not dead yet?" Regina choked out.

Cora shook her head, "not in this time line, but we are between realms, so I am able to be here."

"There's only one purgatory for every realm and timeline?"

Cora chuckled, "it's more of a personal concept."

Regina nodded and stood there awkwardly, there were so many things she wanted to say to this woman, she just didn't know where to start.

"Do you..." she began, but couldn't finish the sentence.

Cora chuckled again, softly she took her daughters hand and brought it to her chest, where she felt the very distinct feeling of a beating heart.

Regina smiled, and tentatively hugged the other woman, she had to admit it was a very strange feeling.

"So why did you want to see me?" she whispered.

Cora pulled away, and wiped a stray tear that had fallen down Regina's face, "well, the next time you see me may not be very amicable."

Regina nodded, "I suppose your right," she frowned.

"I just wanted to tell you something that I should have said a million times," Regina looked at her expectantly, and Cora wondered whether this would be good enough, "I love you."

Regina took in a sharp intake of breath. Bringing her mother into a tighter hug she laughed, "I love you too."

Cora returned the hug, "I should also apologise."

"Why?" Regina sniffled.

"I ruined your life. I know now that a mother should never project their issues upon their child, you didn't want to be queen and I should have respected that."

Regina nodded, "what made you realise that?"

"My heart," she replied, looking at her daughter curiously.

"So if I give you your heart back in this timeline, you can live," she said excitedly.

Cora shook her head, "that would not be very clever."

"Why?"

"I was always a terrible mother, you would be better off without me," she said with a downward look.

"I got a second chance, so should you," Regina replied, while bringing her mother's face up.

"Yes, but you deserved it, you're an excellent mother" she answered with a sad smile. "I want you to be happy, and no one in that town would accept me anyway."

"Henry would, I told him about you."

"What could you possibly have told him?"

"The good things, like...you brought me a horse, you always tried to protect me, granted in a slightly more...acquired way than most parents."

Cora just let out a laugh, "you make quite the politician."

"When the time comes, I will do anything to return your heart."

"Just promise that you won't allow me to hurt you or your family."

Regina nodded and hugged her again, "I promise."

 **A/N I think that my alerts are sorted, good to hear that you guys are getting the alerts (even if they're a little late lol), hope you like the chapter, and let me know whether you want Cora to live in this timeline**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

Emma stared at her phone for an hour, before it lit up with a text, _can you meet me at the hospital?_

The blonde sighed with relief, _be right there,_ she shot back before grabbing her jacket.

Five minutes later, she strode into Regina's room to find Henry sitting by her side, "are you alone?" she asked cautiously.

"Graham and August brought me, they left after I got your reply," he answered.

Emma nodded, standing silent for a moment. She knew that Mary Margaret was probably right, but she just didn't feel comfortable even pretending to believe.

"So..." she began before noticing the book he had shown her a few days ago, "reading to your mom?"

Henry looked down at it, and nodded, "could you carry on, I have homework to do."

"You didn't go to school today."

"I asked Miss Blanchard to send me the work," Emma looked at him sceptically, "my mom will not be happy if I fall behind."

"Fine," she laughed, grabbing the book, she opened it to the book marked page. As soon as her hand touched its surface she felt a jolt of energy run through her hand, staring at it for a moment, she gulped and sat down next to Henry.

For a few moments she didn't speak, just simply stared at the depiction of the Evil Queen at Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding. She ran her hand over the face and whispered, "Regina."

Henry looked at her with a small smile, before she shook her head and began reading.

Henry sighed, pretending to do some fractions as his birth mother read, _did I chose the wrong section?_ He thought.

Twenty minutes later, Emma had completed the chapter, and made to close the book.

Henry groaned in frustration, "seriously, nothing?"

"What?" she asked in shock.

"How can you still not remember?" he shouted.

"Remember what?"

"That you're living in the past."

Emma made to make a retort, before the words died on her lips, _that explains the dreams,_ but she just shook her head, "what do you mean?"

"The day after you showed up, Mom said that she had already lived through all of this and that curse had already broken. She said that something you and her did sent you both into the past."

 _"Let me die as Regina,'_ images of a flashing diamond burst into Emma's mind.

Clutching the sides of her chair she allowed the book to fall to the floor, "I am sick of this town!" she shouted, before making to leave the hospital room.

"NO!" Henry shouted, running in front of the door, "you are not running away, you're the saviour and you have to save my mom."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"You need to slay Maleficent and get the source of magic to sustain the sleeping curse," he shouted back.

 _"What is this place?"_

 _"Would you like a tour or..."_

 _"Lead way."_

"You're remembering," Henry said excitedly, noticing her faraway expression.

"No, I'm going insane," she said taking a sharp intake of breath; she brought her hand up to her forehead, trying to see if she had a fever.

"You know it's real, so why are you fighting it?" he cried.

"Because, I know that it's not real. I don't care what hallucinations tell me, there is no such thing as sleeping curses, True Love, happy endings, and no magic from a dragon is going to save your mom. You need to stop wasting time on hope and just say goodbye, while you still can."

Tears began to fall down the boys face, "you saw her eat the turnover, if she was 'allergic' or whatever, don't you think that the doctors would have found it by now."

"Not everything can be explained, Henry."

"So why do you need everything to have an explanation," he retorted.

Emma shook her head, "I don't, not for science, but magic is just a child's idea of reality."

"I may be a child, but you're the one denying what's right in front of you. I know that you have déjà vu, that you felt an instant connection with people, it's because you have already lived here. You're just too stubborn to let yourself fully remember, and I will hate you forever if you can't even try!"

Emma swallowed hard, "think about what you're asking me to do Henry," she begged.

"I'm asking you to do what you were born to do," he countered.

Emma sighed and plopped down onto the chair, putting her head in her hands, "you can't blame me for what's happening to your mom," Henry looked at her in shock, "I don't want her to die," she said in a small voice.

Henry felt guilt, "tell me why you can't believe," he said in a calmer voice.

Emma let out a shaky breath, "I used to believe in all of this fairytale crap like every other kid. But being bounced around from family to family makes it hard to believe that Snow White and Prince Charming ever really did get their happy ending."

"They haven't, yet," August said.

Emma looked up to see the intruder who was closely followed by Graham, clutching a sword.

"Seriously, you two as well?" she sighed.

Graham offered her a small smile, "it's the truth, Emma."

"Is that a sword?" she asked cautiously.

Graham nodded, "it's your father's sword."

 _"Who is her?"_

 _"Someone you should be prepared for, where you're going you'll need this," Gold smirked, holding open the case._

 _"What is that?"_

 _"Your father's sword."_

"Please, Emma just believe, for me? For my mom?" Henry begged.

Emma felt tears begin to trek their way down her face, turning she looked at the comatose woman. A flash went through her mind, and she saw Henry lying in the same position.

She blew out a breath and looked away from the bed, only to see the book on the floor. Another flash went through her mind, and she saw her hands reach out to pick up the book, with a crying mayor nearby.

Emma's eyes closed, and she tried to steady her shaky hands as she reached down to pick up the story book. Taking in a calming breath, she thought _you can believe, Swan,_ before opening her eyes and looking straight at the cover.

As soon as her eyes opened, a stream of memories began to race through her mind. She saw Charming place her in the wardrobe, she saw herself talking to Henry at his castle, saving Regina from the fire, cutting down a tree branch. She saw the moment she fell for the mayor, that day at the mine she had realised just how much Regina cared about her son, it was the day that she began to believe that she was much more complex than simply being evil. She saw the curse break, saving Regina from the mob, the wraith, travelling to the Enchanted Forest with her mother, Cora, Hook, Greg and Tamara.

" _You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are."_

Dropping the book she stood up with a start.

"Oh my God, Regina," she said as she placed a hand on her love's arm.

 **A/N Hope you liked the chapter :) Please let me know whether it's too soon for Emma to remember, I could change it if it doesn't feel believable. Also, someone mentioned they would like to see Cora meet Zelena, so I was wondering how far into the OUAT seasons you guys would like to see this fic go :)**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

"You remember?" Henry asked tentatively.

Emma turned away from Regina to see Henry, Graham and August, "Henry? I forgot how tiny you used to be," she laughed.

Henry looked down at his body and shook his head.

"You can break the curse," he said excitedly.

Graham forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, "remember what Gold told us?"

Henry sighed, "go on then," he said turning to Emma.

The blonde nodded and walked over to Graham, "I need the skeleton keys to get into the library."

Graham hands her the sword, and pulled out a set of keys, "Gold thought of everything."

"Gold?" Emma asked cautiously.

"Yeah...Henry kind of verbally assaulted him until he agreed to help."

"How?" she laughed, turning to the ten-year-old.

"He told me that I'm his grandson, it made it easy," he shrugged.

"You know about Neal?"Emma choked.

Henry shook his head, "I just know that his Mr Gold's son, but it's not important right now," he replied while gesturing towards his mother.

Emma nodded, placing her hand on Henry's shoulder she offered a small smile, "sorry I've been so stubborn."

Henry stood silent for a moment, before softly hugging her, "sorry I was so horrible to you."

She let out a small laugh, before lightly placing her hand on his hair, "I deserved it."

"Yeah, you kind of did," he smirked.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Graham asked, as he followed the determined saviour.

"I've already done it once," she pointed out.

"But it's a dragon," he said dramatically.

"I got over that, a lot of weirder things happened," she laughed, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Graham ran into her back and stumbled slightly, "what happened?"

Emma pointed towards two people openly holding hands, "I thought my parents didn't get together until after the curse broke."

Graham shook his head, "Regina convinced Kathryn to let go."

"She helped Snow?"

"She said something about an idiotic love triangle," he answered.

Emma began to smile, "what else has she done?"

"She gave me my heart, released Belle and...she's been trying to get you to break the curse."

Emma sighed in relief, "she's actually trying to be good."

"She must have been trying before," he frowned.

Emma nodded, "she did try, but nobody would give her the chance because everything that she did. But maybe now they will." After a moment Emma smiled at Graham, "by the way, I'm glad that you're alive."

"So am I," he laughed, as they continued walking, "who was the sheriff in the future?"

"I was, why?"

"Because I hate it there," he laughed.

"Why?"

"I was a hunter, I can't be trapped in an office reporting Pongo running away every day, besides the saviour should really be the sheriff."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I think I have a favour that I call in from Regina."

Reaching the library, Emma opened the door in seconds and strode towards the elevator at the back.

"So ...good luck," Graham laughed.

"I'll be fine," she assured, "when I shout up, you need to press that button."

Graham nodded.

Pressing the button the doors opened, and Emma took in a calming breath, "I can do this," she whispered.

She gave one more smile to Graham, before stepping into the metal contraption.

Unsheathing the sword, she swung it around to test its weight, _still perfect_ she mentally noted.

The elevator crashed to the ground with a shudder.

Gripping the sword she stepped forward into the familiar cavern.

"Maleficent," she shouted, "I don't have a lot of time for this."

Dust began to fall from the ceiling as a roar echoed throughout; Emma saw the dark shadows begin to move. Looking around, she notices the slightly higher platform, and began to run towards it. Fire began to follow her path, but she refused to look back, and continued running, now jumping from small jutting out rocks.

With on final jump, she rolled and stood up. Turning she saw the dragon flying not far away. Lifting her head, she prepared for another attack.

Emma sighed in relief as the weak spot became obvious. _Just like last time_ she thought, clutching the sword hilt with both hands, she brought it over her head and threw it with all the force she could.

The blonde sighed in relief as the dragon let out a strangled noise, the sword deeply impaled, she began to disintegrate.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she hopped down, walking towards the pile of ash she picked up her prize.

* * *

"Is that the face of a believer?" Gold smirked, as Emma and Graham walked into the pawn shop.

"Shut up Gold," Emma shot back.

Handing him the phial with her parent's hair, she said "go and do whatever you did last time."

"Very gracious of you to deliver it," he laughed.

"Well it was gracious of you not to steal it," she sneered.

Gold took the phial and inspected it.

A moment later Emma's phone began to ring, "hello."

"Emma," Henry cried.

"Henry, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Dr Whale was wrong, apparently she doesn't have a week."

"Henry, try and calm down, tell me what happened," she said softly, though she actually wanted to scream.

"He said something like she coded or something, and they may not be able to bring her back next time," he sniffled.

"Henry, it's going to be okay, I got the magic, Mr Gold just needs to do...something," she replied, "I won't let her die."

After a small 'okay' she hung up and turned to the pawn shop owner, "I would hurry up if I were you."

Gold just smirked at the thinly veiled threat, "I will make haste saviour, perhaps you should return to madam mayor."

* * *

Emma ran into the hospital room, and Henry gave a small smile when he noticed the sword sheathed at her side, but it fell almost instantly as he turned back to his mother.

"What if Mr Gold isn't fast enough?" he sniffled.

"He will be," she smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

A moment of silence fell, before Henry asked, "what's Storybrooke like without the curse?"

"Even stranger," Emma laughed.

Henry smiled, before it fell into a frown, "why was I so horrible to my mom?"

"How would you know?"

"Mr Gold showed me," he replied.

Emma gave a small sigh before sitting next to him, "no one was blameless, Henry. Your mom, she did some...bad things, but no one gave her a chance. I never forced you to spend time with her, but you can look at this as a second chance for you as well."

Henry smiled, "I guess you're right, she did seem really happy before she ate the turnover."

"Now you just need to make sure it stays that way when she wakes up, you can make it up to her," she said with a playful punch to the shoulder.

"I will."

For the next few minutes Emma stared out the window, hoping for purple smoke to come billowing towards her any moment, but a beeping sound brought her out of her concentration.

"Come on, Gold," she whispered, before jumping to her feet.

"Whale," she shouted down the hall, running back she grabbed Henry by the arm, and softly pulled him over to the wall.

Within seconds Whale ran in, followed by a team of nurses.

"What's happening?" Henry shouted, over the noise.

Whale inspected the heart monitor, and began barking orders at the nurses.

"Charge to 200,"..."clear"..."charge again,"..."clear."

Whale stared intently at the heart monitor, before shaking his head, "time of death, 16.34."

"No!" Henry shouted, "you can't stop, Emma... tell them not to stop," he cried as the blonde grabbed him so he wouldn't run forward.

"Henry," she whispered, "it's going to be okay."

"No, it's not," he cried, hitting her shoulder he tried to get free. "I haven't told her I love her enough times, she can't leave me."

"What's that?" one of the nurses shrieked.

Emma looked over, the bellowing purple smoke was engulfing Main Street.

"Magic," Emma answered, before releasing Henry.

Henry he pointed at the bed, "kiss her."

Whale looked between the two, "what?"

Emma ignored the doctor and ran forward, desperately trying not to focus on the deafening sound of the heart monitor, _she can't be dead,_ she leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

Light burst out, spreading across Storybrooke.

Whale's expression changed, looking around he said, "oh my God."

"Frankenstein?" Emma asked hopefully.

Whale nodded, and Emma and Henry each let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Regina watched Emma rush into the hospital room, "she did it," she smiled.

"You doubted her," Daniel frowned.

Regina shook her head, looking between the three standing before her, "not for a second, it's just..."

Her father walked forward and placed a hand on shoulder, "you want to stay here?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well it would be easier," she said with a weak smile.

Cora shook her head, "it's never easier to just watch the lives of those you love."

Looking down at the floor, she sighed, "but..."

"You have to go back to your family," Daniel urged, "just know that we'll be here."

Regina offered him a smile, before launching to hug him, "thank you," she whispered.

 _"Time of death, 16.34"_

Regina closed her eyes, and let out a sigh.

" _Kiss her."_

Removing herself from Daniel's hug she moved towards her parent, she hugged them both at the same time, "I'll miss you so much."

"We'll miss you to," her father whispered.

She felt a something soft touch to her lips, and she smiled as she closed her eyes.

Letting out a steeling breath, she opened them again to be met with the sight of a white ceiling.

She heard Emma ask, "Frankenstein?"

After a few moments she sat up slightly, "you certainly took your time, Swan."

Emma turned, and a huge smile adorned her face, "Regina," she breathed.

Without warning, Henry ran forward, "mom!"

Regina accepted the hug instantly, as she felt tears fall on her shoulder she whispered, "it's okay my little prince."

"You were dead," he cried.

"I'm here now my little prince," she whispered.

He pulled back slightly and looked between his mothers with a small smile he said, "Miss Blanchard isn't going to be happy."

Emma's face paled, and she sighed, "do we have to tell her how the curse broke."

"You can't lie to Snow White," Henry laughed.

 **A/N The general consensus seems to be that Cora should live, if you guys want to see a twist on the other seasons I would appreciate any ideas you would like to see in this universe. Hope you like the chapter :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

Whale observed the family for a moment, before it occurred to him just what Regina had done.

He began to advance, but Emma stood in front of him.

"Seriously Whale?" she sighed.

"She cursed us all," he hissed.

Emma let out a breath, _again, really?_ Drawing the sword, she held it up and replied, "I suggest you get over it."

Whale looked between the sword and Regina, "you can't be there to protect her forever, saviour."

"Once she's fully better, she doesn't need me to protect her," Emma smirked.

Whale hurriedly left the room, but at the same time she heard footsteps outside, and continued to hold it up.

Snow and David burst into the room, and David looked in shock at the other blonde holding his sword.

As soon as Emma saw who it was, she sheathed it, "hey," she said, with a small wave.

Snow stared at her for a few moments, "hey," she stuttered out.

Emma stood for a few seconds, before walking forward and hugging them both.

Snow let out a laugh as she brought her arm around her daughter, "you found us," she cried.

Emma nodded, and smirked when she heard Henry's small laugh, _Regina must have rolled her eyes,_ she thought.

"You seem surprisingly...okay with everything," David said with a furrowed brow.

"Err...that's a long story that I don't actually understand," she replied while turning to Regina.

"Oh, the trigger sent us back in time," she explained casually.

"I figured, but that doesn't explain why to now," Emma retorted.

"The moment you came to town was when the curse started to break," Regina replied.

Emma nodded, "so why did you remember and I didn't?"

"Because you are stubborn," Henry and Regina said at the same time.

Snow looked between them, "are we missing something?"

"M e and Regina have already lived through all of this, we got sent back in time because of _her_ failsafe," she replied casually.

"My failsafe? I didn't set it off."

"You created it and God knows why," Emma laughed.

"It was necessary," Regina countered.

"It was stupid," Emma smirked.

Regina narrowed her eyes and Emma held her gaze for a few moments. Charming and Snow exchanged a look.

"Emma...how did the curse break?" she asked cautiously.

Emma looked at Henry pleadingly, "I'm not telling her," he laughed.

Regina rolled her eyes, "you are both children," to which Emma and Henry both nodded. Turning to look at Snow she steeled her nerves, though she didn't quite understand why, and said, "Your daughter kissed me and broke both curses."

Snow nodded for a moment, before she began shaking her head.

"But..." she began, before she fainted.

"Well that was dramatic," Emma said in shock, before kneeling down next to her.

Looking up she saw her father with a similar look to the one the Snow had, "you're not going to faint are you?"

Shaking his head he kneeled down next her, helping to move Snow he whispered, "can I have my sword?"

"Not yet," she whispered back with a laugh.

* * *

"Okay, Snow's all settled in a bed," Emma said as she re-entered Regina's room.

Henry hopped of the bed where he was laying next to Regina, "I'm going to talk to them."

Each woman nodded, he was half way across the room before he ran back to Regina and kissed her on the cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied instantly.

Henry offered Emma a smile, before running out of the room.

"Guess he doesn't love me yet," Emma sighed.

Regina smiled at the blonde, "trust me, it won't take long."

"Is that right?" Emma smirked as she approached the bed.

"After a while, your idiocy becomes endearing."

Emma let out a snort of laughter, "yeah, after a while you being a know it all becomes endearing."

"Since when had knowledge ever been a bad thing?" she smirked.

Emma took Henry's place on the bed, and put her arm around the mayor's shoulder, "I never said it was."

"You implied..."

"Regina," Emma whispered as she leaned forward.

"What?"

"Shut up," she replied, before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

When she pulled away, Regina nodded and leaned forward again to capture the blonde's lips.

* * *

"Hey grandpa," Henry said as he entered the other room.

David was about to protest, before he just shook his head, "I guess you're right, I am your grandfather."

Henry laughed and came and sat next to him in front of Snow, "how is she?"

"Whale said she should wake up soon," he replied with a small smile.

"Is it because they're both women?" Henry asked after a moment.

David looked at him in shock for a moment before he shook his head, "sexuality was never really a big deal in the Enchanted Forest."

"So why is it here?" Henry asked with a tilted head.

David shrugged, "I've only been awake here for a day," he laughed, "but my guess would be it's because in the Enchanted Forest, gay couples can have children through magic."

"I can have a little brother?" Henry asked excitedly. David's face drained of colour and Henry quickly held up his hands, "sorry, too soon?"

David let out a breath, "yes, way too soon."

"So it's because she was the Evil Queen?" Henry asked.

David nodded, "I think with time I may come to terms with it, but..."

"Snow White believes in true love right?"

David nodded.

"Then how can she ask her daughter not to be with her true love, surely you both just want her to be happy."

Charming looked at him for a moment, "how are you so smart?"

"I read a lot," he laughed.

"You do have a point, but it's still a lot to take in," David sighed.

Henry placed his hand on the man's arm, "well my mom taught me that a parent can do anything for their child."

David nodded again.

"He's right, Charming," a female voice said.

"Snow, are you alright?" her husband asked quickly.

She sat up and smiled at the two boys in front of her, "we can't ask Emma to not be happy just because we're not comfortable with it."

David nodded, "I know, it's still weird. Emma would be dating her step-grandmother."

Henry grimaced, "never say that again."

Snow and Charming both laughed at the boy's disgusted look.

 **A/N I will try and do every season (except 3A) I'll follow this plot through to the end of season two (Cora will definitely be redeemed), and then I'll probably do time jumps to Zelena, Elsa (may not do 4A, haven't got any ideas for it yet lol) and then the Queens of Darkness. Let me know if you like this plan, and if not what you want to see happen.**

 **I just have a few questions:**

 **1\. Would you rather Snow and Emma to go to the EF, or Emma and Regina (or all three?) (I would also need a reason for them to go through the hat :/)**

 **you want Zelena to become part of the family by the end of her section?**

 **3\. Do you want to see Robin and Hook in this story?**

 **4\. Do you want Emma to become the Dark One by the time I get to 4B? (I probably won't be able to do 5A when it comes out if she doesn't)**

 **Thank you guys for all the interest, and I hope you enjoy what I do with the next few seasons :)**

 **Also if you're not interested in the other seasons this would probably be the best place to finish reading :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one

Regina and Emma sat in silence for a few minutes, with Regina leant against her shoulder, Emma lightly stroked her hair.

"Can I ask you something?" Regina asked.

Emma nodded.

"What's it like to have a mother?" she asked quietly.

"You had a-"

"A caring mother," she clarified.

"Why don't you ask Henry?" Emma asked.

Regina sat up, and looked at her straight in the eyes, though Emma saw a small smile, "will you stop being charming for five seconds and answer my question."

Emma nodded, and pulled her back down against her shoulder, "it's awesome. For the first time I had someone that listened to me at any given moment, Snow didn't want me around just to get government cheques, she just wanted to get to know me. She even told me to tell you about my feelings, so I guess you'll have someone who's always right," she laughed.

"She knew?" Regina asked in shock.

"Well it did take her a while, let's just hope she doesn't faint every time she sees us, did something make you think about Cora?"

Regina nodded, "I talked to her."

"What?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Calm down, when I was under the sleeping curse, I talked to the version of her from our timeline, she actually makes a decent mother with her heart."

Emma nodded, "so you want to find her and give her heart back."

Regina sighed, "I know it sounds fool-"

"Okay, so we could either go to the Enchanted Forest and give her the heart, or we could just wait until she comes here, but I don't know how long that would take. Do you know where her heart is?"

Regina nodded, "it's in my vault; you're really willing to do this?"

"Of course I am," Emma laughed, "I would do anything you asked me to do."

"If I'd known that, it would have been easier to get rid of you the first time," she smirked.

Emma just shook her head, "very funny your majesty."

* * *

"Hey," Emma said as she walked in to see her mother had woken up, "you feeling better?"

Snow nodded, "I'm sorry for how I reacted."

"Really?" Emma asked in shock, "I thought it would take longer."

"I'm still not okay with it," she clarified, "but your father and I can try and hide it until we are."

"So the answer is repression," Emma smirked, "you know that's not healthy."

"At least we'll get to spend time with you," Charming smiled.

"Yeah...about that," Emma began, "there's kind of something that me and Regina have to deal with before we can be like...a big happy family."

"Okay...what?"

"We need to bring Cora back to Storybrooke," Emma said hesitantly.

"Cora? As in Regina's mother, do you have any idea how dangerous that would be?" Snow asked in outrage, "and besides why would Regina even want her mother back?"

"You probably don't want to know the whole story," Emma replied.

Snow raised her eyebrow in expectation.

"Well in the future, we found out that Cora didn't have her heart, which is why she was such a cold hearted bitch. But someone cursed the heart and convinced Regina to give it back to her, for a few moments Cora was actually like...a real mother, but then she died."

"That's horrible...who would do something like that?" Snow asked with wide eyes.

"You did," Emma muttered.

Charming and Snow's mouths each fell open.

"But it doesn't matter, we'll give her the heart and then she can be like a functioning parent."

"And if it doesn't work, and Cora hurts either of you?" Charming asked.

"I beat her last time," Emma offered.

"What did she do last time?"

"She tried to take my heart, but she couldn't because of the whole product of true love thing...so you know...thanks," she smiled.

"We won't allow you to..." Charming began.

"You won't allow me?" Emma laughed, "I'm an adult!"

"You're still our daughter," Snow replied.

Emma felt anger build up, these were not the same parents that's she had grown close to in the future. She didn't realise that they must have done just as much adjusting as she had. Despite that she knew she didn't mean what was about to say, she also knew that she was going to say it eventually, "yeah, well you're a little late."

Hurt flashed across each of their faces and Emma felt regret, but she decided to deal with one problem at a time, "just look after Henry while we're gone," she said before leaving without waiting for their reply.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Henry asked.

"If we wait, we don't know what she'll do before we can stop her," Regina replied as Henry followed her.

Henry inspected the box Regina had given him, "how do you know it's her heart?"

"It's a magic thing, I'm not sure if I can explain it," she frowned.

Henry laughed, "don't worry about, how long do you think you'll be gone."

"Well last time Emma was gone for two weeks, but we'll know what we're doing this time, so it shouldn't take that long," she assured.

"Hey," Emma shouted, running up to the other two clutching a hat.

"Where'd you get that?" Henry laughed.

"I made it, Jefferson wasn't there anyway. Besides I made the last one we used," she said proudly.

"The future sounds weird," Henry frowned.

"It was," Emma smiled.

Regina shook her head, "you know you don't have to come with me."

Emma put her arm around the brunette's shoulder, "I'm not letting you have all the fun, so where do you want to do this?"

Regina shrugged and looked around the deserted Main Street, "my house?"

Emma nodded, and made as if to walk away, "crap," she whispered.

"What?" Regina asked.

"My parents are coming, they were trying to talk me out of this," she sighed.

"Why?"

"Apparently I'm not mature enough," she said dramatically.

Regina gave her a doubtful look, "did they actually say that?"

"Well...no. Just do it here," she said, "the street is completely empty."

"Emma!" Snow shouted.

The blonde quickly grabbed the hat and kneeled down, she focused on going back to the Enchanted Forest, and took a calming breath; a second later the hat was spinning with a purple vortex.

"Maybe you're not mature enough," Regina said with a frustrated sigh.

"Come on, the sooner we go, the sooner we'll be back," Emma pointed out.

Regina just shook her head and turned to Henry, "we'll be back soon, I promise."

Henry handed the box to Emma and hugged his mother, "I love you."

"I love you too," Henry offered Emma a small wave.

Regina jumped into the vortex, and Emma was about to follow, only for someone to grab her arm, "I can't lose you again."

Emma looked at the hat, praying that Regina wouldn't be left alone, "then come with me."

Snow looked at her in shock, but Emma decided not to wait for her answer and simply followed her girlfriend.

Snow looked behind to see Charming hadn't quite caught up, and decided that Emma was right.

Without another thought she followed the other two to the Enchanted Forest.

 **A/N Thank you all for the suggestions, they were really helpful :) I liked the idea of them choosing to go to the EF, but let me know if you would rather that they were sent there by some villain. Also without the wraith Prince Phillip would be alive, but I don't really like him (sorry if you do), so let me know if you have any ideas as to how to get rid of him, or to wake up Sleeping Beauty without him (I'm all for SleepingWarrior if you guys want to see it)**

 **I also need to thank _AmazonianTheifEss_ for all the help with this chapter and for being a great sound board for ideas :)**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty-two

"No!" Charming shouted, as he jumped and landed on top of the hat. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he stood and looked at his grandson, who offered him a small smile.

"I guess you're looking after me," he said.

Charming nodded, and picking up the hat, he looked into it longingly.

"Don't worry, mom said they won't be gone long," Henry tried.

The sound of shouting interrupted them, and Henry noticed a group of angry citizens marching towards Milfin Street.

"I guess they think mom's still here," he frowned.

"Come on, we should probably tell the townspeople what's going on," he sighed.

Henry nodded, "mom said we need to give this letter to Gold," he offered said envelop to him.

Charming inspected it distrustfully, "fine, I'll do it," the boy huffed, before walking ahead of his grandfather towards his home.

* * *

Emma let out a groan, and pushed herself off the ground, to be met with the familiar sword pointed towards her.

"Hey Mulan," she grumbled.

The warrior was silent for a moment, before removing her helmet, "who are you?"

"Emma Swan, Snow White and...Re-Alexis Thompson," Regina looked at her questioningly, but Emma mouthed 'go with it." _Don't think they would appreciate the Evil Queen,_ Emma thought.

"How do you know of me?"

"You're famous," Emma tried after a brief pause.

Emma noticed Aurora peeking from behind Prince Phillip, who also had his sword drawn.

"We mean you no harm," Mary Margaret said while holding her hands up in surrender.

Mulan inspected each of them, _such strange clothing_ she noted, and she couldn't help but recognise 'Alexis'. Despite this, however, she sheathed her sword.

"Very well, we were just leaving anyway," she was about to turn to leave.

"Wait," Emma called, "err...it would be safer to travel together, right?"

Mulan gave her a sceptical look, only for her reply to be interrupted by a loud roar.

"Ogres," Emma and Snow said at the same time.

"What?" Regina choked.

"Never seen one?" Emma laughed.

Regina shook her head, and looked visibly paler.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"My mother...she used to make it seem like I was trapped in a room with an ogre if I was bad, but I've never seen a real one," she whispered back.

Emma felt anger bubble inside her, _why are we trying to save this woman?_

"It's okay," she whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder, she pulled her closer, neither noticing Snow's jaw clench at the sight.

The next moment the massive monster burst through the nearby trees, its ears leading it to its newest prey.

Phillip froze in his place, dropping his sword to the ground.

Emma quickly ran and pick it up, and stood in front of Regina, "Snow needs a bow," she whispered.

Regina let out a shaky breath, but nodded. She closed her eyes in concentration, allowing the familiar touch of magic to reach her, she imagined what Emma had asked for and it appeared in Snow's hands a moment later.

Snow looked at it disgustingly for a moment, but Emma's nod of encouragement made her draw an arrow.

Mulan stared at the interaction in shock, the infamous purple smoke telling her exactly who 'Alexis' was, but she decided to deal with that later, and came and stood next to Emma.

"I hope you have a plan," the warrior announced.

"There's only one ogre," Emma muttered. "Snow, you have to shoot its neck," she whispered.

"I can't get a clear shot," she replied, as she desperately tried to find an opening.

The ogre continued grunting, walking slowly towards them, _it's enjoying this,_ Emma thought.

The blonde sighed quietly in frustration, before an idea occurred to her, grabbing the sword hilt with both hands, she threw it towards a tree behind the ogre.

The sound of splitting wood, cause the ogre to turn in confusion, a moment later a arrow embedded itself in its neck.

"Nice one," Emma smiled at her mother as the ogre fell to the ground.

"Maybe not," Phillip said, pointing towards the tree where a symphony of grunting noises were being emitted.

"There's too many of them," Snow pointed out.

Phillip looked at his sword embedded in the tree, and felt shame. "We need a distraction," he muttered.

Aurora turned to him, "don't be foolish."

He quickly hugged her, and Emma noticed Mulan's frown.

"I'll be fine, just get to safety, I'll meet you as soon as possible back at camp," he whispered, placing a small kiss to her forehead, he nodded at Mulan and jumped on his horse.

Mulan grabbed Aurora before she could try and stop Phillip, "come on princess, we must make haste. Your prince will be fine."

"What about them?" she asked with a sniffle.

"They should come with us," Mulan replied formulating possible plans to capture the Evil Queen.

* * *

Once they had informed the townsfolk of what had happened, with the help of Graham to calm everyone down, David had convinced them to return home until they can make a formal system for reuniting people. He had promised a town meeting in an hour, but had no idea what to say. It was for this reason he paced the pawn shop while Henry watched his other grandfather read the letter.

"It would appear that people are unable to leave town with their Enchanted Forest identities intact," Gold announced.

"None of them are going to believe anything the Regina said," Charming sighed.

"Well, they have to," Henry replied.

"I can guarantee at least one of them is going to try and leave," he retorted.

Gold chuckled, "well then, warn them and if they are foolish enough to try and leave, it's their own fault."

Henry nodded in agreement.

"Was that it? She could have just told you that," Charming pointed out.

"It also contains some other information that doesn't concern you," the shop owner sneered.

"Is it about my dad?" Henry asked hopefully.

Charming looked at him in shock and Henry shrugged.

"Yes, she has supplied all of the information that I have yet to find," he replied with a small smile as he looked at the address.

"When are you going?"

"I need to overcome this town line issue, which is another thing your mother has assisted with. I would imagine I should be able to leave tomorrow," he answered while showing Henry the potion ingredients detailed in the letter.

"Alone?" Henry asked.

"It would appear I don't have much of a choice. Although it would seem that Miss Swan was of great assistance as well," he frowned, as he inspected the second envelop Henry had given him.

"Yeah, all you have to do is give him the letter from Emma," Henry smiled excitedly.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on?" Charming asked.

"My son is Henry's father," Gold replied casually.

Charming looked between Henry and Gold, before putting his hands over his face, "we share a grandson?"

"It would seem so," he smirked.

Charming shook his head, and decided to deal with this later, _maybe I should try and draw a family tree?_

"What suggestions do you have, for the town's people?"

"How about a rousing speech about having two identities?" Gold laughed.

"What am I missing now?" he asked with a frustrated sigh.

"He looked into the alternate future that mom and Emma lived through," Henry explained.

Blinking a few times, he just nodded, "okay...so I just need to inspire them?"

"Time to test just how much of a prince you are, David Nolan" Gold smirked.

 **A/N I needed to get Phillip out of the story, but don't worry if you like him, he'll make an appearance later :) Also let me know if you want to see Gold's trip to NY, or if you just want him to return with Neal (and no Tamara, but she'll come later)**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter twenty-three

"Are you okay?" Emma asked Regina as they walked.

Regina simply nodded and continued walking. Emma looked over at Snow who was resolutely looking forward.

Emma sighed and grabbed Regina's hand, stopping her from walking. Once the others had gotten a few steps ahead, she continued towards camp.

"You can tell me Regina," Emma said, her hand still clasping hers.

Regina was silent for a moment longer, before she said, "the ogre."

Emma tilted her head, "what about it?"

"I was a weak coward," she replied, refusing to look the blonde in the eye.

"No, you were afraid, you know like a human being," Emma retorted with a cheeky smile.

"I could have thrown a fire ball, I'm stronger than an ogre," Regina sighed.

"Look at me," Emma said, she stopped walking and grabbed her other hand, "you're allowed to be afraid from time to time."

"And what if being afraid gets someone killed?

"It won't, because you will go all badass queen and fry their ass," Emma laughed. Regina narrowed her eyes, "if you're ever afraid then you can call me, and if I'm afraid you're sure as hell the first person I'd call."

"And what is the great and powerful saviour afraid of?" Regina asked seriously, though Emma could see a smile coming through the facade.

"Hmm...I'm afraid of horses," she offered. Regina looked offended and Emma sighed, "you're going to make me ride a horse aren't you?"

Regina nodded, "it would make me feel better," she offered, with a small pout.

"So I save you from an ogre and I have to face my fear?"

"Well I can't have you calling me every time you see a horse," Regina chuckled.

"Fine, you can give me riding lessons back in Storybrooke, but you have deal with the next monster."

"Deal," Regina leaned up and placed a small kiss on her girlfriend's lips. At this exact moment Snow turned around to witness the traumatising scene before her.

Mulan looked at the woman curiously as her face contorted in anger and she marched over to the other women.

"Stay away from my daughter!" she shouted.

Regina looked away from Emma in surprise, "what?" she laughed.

"I am not okay with you two being together, its...wrong!" she replied angrily.

Emma looked between Regina and Snow and let out an exasperated sigh, "you were not this angry the last time you found out."

"What?" Snow asked.

"When I came out last time, you still shouted, but you weren't this bad," she replied, still holding Regina close, though it was more for Snow's protection at this point.

"You can't be with another woman Emma."

Emma let out a puff of air in frustration, _we have already been through this_ she thought. "You know we already have an heir," she bargained.

"But you can't have more," Snow retorted, not noticing Mulan had slipped away, pulling Aurora with her, they were only a couple minutes away from camp and she was going to need help for what she had planned.

"Yes, actually we can," Emma answered. Regina looked at her in shock and the blonde let go of her to rub her hand nervously across her face, "I broke the curse with Regina, meaning we are true loves, so we can have children together" she said, then turning to Regina, "and you need to unclench, it doesn't need to be anytime soon."

Regina rolled her eyes and turned to Snow, "can we just move to the part where you accept your daughter for who she is, we both know that you listened to your mother more than your father."

"What?" Emma whispered.

"Eva was tolerant of everything and Leopold hated everything, which makes for a very confused little princess," Regina sneered.

Snow's face went red with anger, "and what did you teach me, mother?"

Snow and Regina each narrowed their eyes, neither noticed Emma's cringe, _why do people keep reminding that she's my step-grandmother?_

"Obviously, not to keep a secret!" Regina shouted.

"I was ten!"

"Whoa, okay. This is getting out of hand, Mary Margaret we've only kissed like four times, we're barely even in a relationship," Emma offered.

"You shouldn't have kissed her at all," Snow shouted, "you should have been raised here. You should have been a princess, married a prince, and had children. You should never have grown up alone without your father and I, it is all her fault!"

Hurt flashed across Regina's face and Emma laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You believe in true love, right?" Emma asked in a calmer tone.

Snow reluctantly nodded.

"If Regina had never cast the curse, then Henry wouldn't have existed, she would over thirty years older than me, and let's face, Storybrooke is a hundred times better than the Enchanted Forest. Plus she was given a second chance and one of the first things she did was to try and reunite you and David. She regrets what she did, but you have to get over it, because at the moment you're not giving a very good case for choosing you over her," Emma ranted.

Snow made to retort, only for a dart to sink into her arm. As she fell to the ground unconscious, the other two just about had time to look at each other, before a dart hit each of them.

* * *

"What happened?" Emma asked groggily.

Sitting up, she looked around to be met with what looked like a dim cave.

"Mulan turned on us," Snow said through clenched teeth.

"Why?"

"She figured out who Alexis Thompson is," she replied.

Emma looked down to see Regina still unconscious, kneeling down, she ran a soft hand down her face.

"Regina," she whispered gently, ignoring Snow sighing and turning away.

"Emma, what happened?" she asked croakily.

"Apparently, I'm a terrible liar, are you okay?"

Regina nodded, and took Emma's offered hand to be pulled up.

"Where are we now?" Regina sighed, noticing that their bags must have been taken away from them.

Emma looked around, and the colour drained from her face, "damn it," she whispered.

"What is it?" Regina asked worriedly.

Emma sighed and called out, "Cora!"

Regina's mouth fell open as she looked between Emma and the shadowy corners of the cavern. Eventually said woman emerged with a smirk on her face.

"Yes dear?"

 **A/N I decided to not include Gold going to New York (it would literally be him handing Neal a letter anyway) and the rest of this section will probably be in the Enchanted Forest, with small parts focused on Henry and Charming in Storybrooke, though I'm probably going to skip over a lot of what happens there :) please feel free to let me know what you thought of the chapter :)**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter twenty-four

Regina stared at her mother for a few moments, while Cora just smirked in return.

"M-mother," she stuttered out.

"Yes, dear it is me," Cora laughed, "I see the dark curse has made you far less articulate."

Regina looked around in vain, desperately wishing for their bags back. _That fool Mulan has her heart._

Emma quickly stood in front of Regina, knowing that her dark magic would be useless in here.

"Stay away, Cora," she warned.

The Queen of Hearts began laughing manically, "found yourself another lapdog?"

Regina visibly winced at the mention of Graham, only to realise that he was perfectly healthy.

"Emma is the saviour," Snow countered.

The blonde gave her mother an exasperated look, before turning back to Cora.

"Is that supposed to frighten me?" Cora chuckled.

"If you try anything, than it definitely should ," Emma replied, raising her hands, two balls of white energy formed, _so glad that worked,_ Emma internally sighed in relief.

"Light magic?" Cora asked, looking astonished for a moment before shaking her head, "is that supposed to impress me?"

"Come closer and find out," Emma said angrily.

"Emma!" Regina scolded.

"We don't have the heart, what else am I meant to do?" she whispered, but not quiet enough.

"My heart?" Cora asked with a raised eyebrow, "I'm very disappointed that after all of these years you still haven't learnt that love is weakness."

Regina took a calming breath, starting to wonder whether her reunion with her mother in purgatory should have been enough, "and how would know? You haven't felt it in decades."

"And you have?"

"Yes, in fact I have, mother," she spat.

"And who would be foolish enough to love the Evil Queen?" Cora laughed.

Regina winced again, and Emma seriously considered just ending this now.

"Apparently I am," Emma replied.

"You...two?"

"That was not a good idea," Regina whispered.

"Why?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"She is ten times worse than your mother," she replied with a sigh.

"I thought I beat those disgusting tendencies out of you years ago," Cora roared, slowly walking forward, only to realise that she had no magic.

Snow looked in shock at Cora, _had I really been like her,_ she shook her head and said, "it's not disgusting, it's true love."

"Well that didn't take her long," Regina muttered.

Emma tried not to snicker, and ending up just smirking.

"If you lay a hand on my daughter or her girlfriend, I will end you," Snow sneered.

"And what could you possibly do to me, princess?" Cora laughed.

Emma and Regina exchanged a look, and the blonde said, "I wouldn't underestimate a pissed off Snow White."

Cora looked at the blonde, and raised her hand as if to slap her.

Snow launched forward, grabbing her arm she twisted it slightly, and kneed her in the stomach.

"Snow!" Regina shouted.

"Oh my God, I guess I got carried away," she replied while looking at the woman on the floor.

Regina shook her head, "that was amazing," she breathed, before turning Emma, "get us to safety."

Emma quickly nodded, she grabbed each of their hands, and focused on going outside. A moment later, white smoke engulfed them, and they materialised not far from camp, where there appeared to be three ogres running rampant.

"It never ends," Emma muttered, turning to Regina and Snow she asked, "one each?"

Regina felt fear for a moment, before swallowing hard and nodding. Twirling her hand, another bow and arrow appeared in Snow's hands.

Five minutes later, each ogre lay dead, and Mulan jogged up to them.

"How did you get out?" she asked angrily.

"I think you should be saying thank you," Emma replied.

Aurora came up behind Mulan and placed her hand on the warriors shoulder, and Emma smiled at the blush that appeared on Sleeping Beauty's cheeks as she did so, _just like last time,_ she thought.

"Mulan, they are clearly very powerful, and the queen does seem willing to help."

Mulan let out an exasperated sigh, and turned to Aurora, "she's the Evil Queen."

"How about we make a deal, you stop calling her the Evil Queen, and we can help you find Prince Phillip," Snow offered.

Regina looked at her in shock, and was offered a timid smile in return.

"It would increase your chances of finding him," Emma added, "and you can even come with us to a safer land."

"Safer land?"

"Storybrooke, it's where we live, and there's like a 99% chance that there are no ogres."

Regina looked at her sceptically, and Emma mouthed ' _go with it'. Because that went so well last time_ Regina thought, while she rolled her eyes.

Mulan considered this for a moment, "and how would we get to this Storybrooke?"

"There's something we would need to do first," Emma said.

Mulan tilted her head, "assuming we accept, what would that be?"

"We need to give Cora her heart back," Snow replied.

"You're on board," Emma whispered.

Snow shrugged and Emma smiled at Regina.

Mulan looked at them for a few moments, "her heart?"

"It's in one of the bags that you ungraciously stole from us," Regina replied with narrowed eyes, "besides I don't think it would be a good idea."

Emma quickly pulled her aside, "what?"

"You saw what's she's like, what if the heart doesn't help? She could have just been acting when I talked to her," Regina sighed.

"So you just want to go home?"

Regina nodded, and Emma sighed, "okay, but let me know if you change your mind." Despite her words, Emma was already planning ways to defy her girlfriend.

"Okay, we need to go to the White castle and get the dust from the wardrobe," Emma announced.

Mulan looked at her for a moment, before approaching and extending her hand, "fine, deal."

"Aurora!" a voice called.

Emma's eyes widened, noticing another Mulan approaching.

 _Crap,_ she thought. Looking up at the one who now had her hand in a vice like grip. "Let me guess, Cora?" she sighed.

A black cloud engulfed this version of Mulan, and Cora appeared in front of the blonde, turning to Regina she smirked, "I believe you should have chosen a more observant lover, Regina."

Regina looked in fear at her mother.

"You'll thank me for this one day," her mother said, a dagger appeared in her hand, and she launched forward and embedded it in the saviour's gut.

"NO!" Regina and Snow shouted at the same time.

Cora knelt down next to the barely breathing blonde, and said, "thank you for the precious information," looking up at her daughter, she said, "I'll see you in Storybrooke," before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

 **A/N Hey guys, I've found that writing is quite a good distraction, so I will be updating, but the updates may be a bit unpredictable :/**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, please let me know what you think. Also from my current plan, it looks like I won't need to write Hook into it, but I think that I will need Robin for season three :)**

 **Also I decided to make Cora slightly OOC, since she's at all more openly sadistic, let me know if you want that to change in future chapters**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter twenty-five

Regina stared for a moment at the place where her mother had disappeared. As Snow ran towards her injured daughter, the older brunette desperately tried to comprehend what had happened. _How could she do this to me twice?_

"Regina!" Snow shouted, applying pressure to the gushing wound.

Regina tore her attention away from the thin air, and fell to her knees beside her ex-stepdaughter.

"Emma," she said softly, only to receive no response.

Shakily, she brought two fingers to the blonde's neck.

She waited with bated breath, hoping to feel anything. A weak sensation met her fingers, and hope erupted within the queen. She let out a sigh of relief, which caused Snow to look expectantly at her.

Aurora gave her the same look, with Mulan looking thoroughly confused. She had seen many strange things in her life, but seeing herself turn into a witch and stab a woman that helped to save the camp from ogres, was something else. Though neither she nor Aurora knew the blonde very well, neither wanted to see her dead after what she had promised.

"She's alive?" Snow asked excitedly.

Regina gave a small nod, before she furrowed her brow.

The already barely there beat was rapidly weakening.

"Emma," she whispered, _how can she be dying this fast?_ Desperately, Regina tried to think of any spell that would help, but all that came to mind was the many she had used to hurt people.

She shook the saviour, "Emma, you have to wake up," Regina cried.

"I thought you said that she's alive," Snow said accusatorily.

The queen shook her head, before swallowing hard and pressing her fingers back upon the pulse point, only this time they were met with no sensation.

"She's..." Regina began, only to be cut off.

"No, she is not dead, now do something," Snow replied angrily.

"Snow, healing is a feat of light magic, I can't do it," Regina retorted, though she berated herself harshly, _why can I never save the people I love?_

The mother looked away from Regina, clearly trying to hold back tears, something that Regina had failed to do as silent tears tracked their way down her cheeks.

"True love is also a feat of light magic, and apparently you can do that," she replied after a moment.

Regina ran her hand down Emma's cheek, and looked up at the other woman angrily, "apparently?"

"For God's sake Regina, this is not the time to argue," Snow shouted. Regina looked at her for a moment, watching as she finally broke down, "please, I can't lose her again," she sobbed.

"And I can?"

Mulan watched the exchange, only for something to catch her eye. Bending down, she inspected the dagger that Cora had thrown on the ground, it was very noticeably steaming with green energy, "magic," she whispered in astonishment. Eyeing the Evil Queen, the warrior tried to decide whether she should share this information, only for Aurora to beat her to it.

"It was some sort of curse," she announced.

Regina and Snow each snapped their heads towards Sleeping Beauty who was pointing towards the dagger.

Regina looked at it for moment, before feeling nerves build. She knew instantly that Cora had coated the dagger in a death curse, _obviously she believed that I don't love her enough._ Despite the proof of true love she already had, she couldn't help but consider whether her mother was right. Maybe as the saviour and product of true love, Emma was just somehow better at it than the queen could ever hope to be. Looking down at her unmoving girlfriend, she imagined a future where she wasn't good enough to break this curse. She knew that she would almost certainly lose Henry, as well as having to live in a world without the saviour. Regina always saw herself as a rather resilient person, but she didn't see herself being able to move past this heart break.

"What does that mean?" Snow asked.

"Mother used a death curse."

Snow looked between Regina and her lifeless daughter and demanded, "kiss her."

"Snow..." Regina began,

"No, you don't get to make any excuse, just break the curse and have your happy ending instead of wallowing in self pity."

A sharp retort instantly came to Regina's mind, only to realise that Snow was right. Emma had broken the dark curse and a sleeping curse by kissing her. She certainly wasn't going to allow the blonde to die, just to spend years in regret.

Nodding, she leaned down, "please be okay," she whispered, before softly pressing her lips against the cooler ones.

Pulling back, she looked expectantly at the blonde.

The next second felt like an eternity.

Despite this, Emma shot up and let out a deep breath. Inspecting her surroundings, she noticed Regina and Snow with tears staining their cheeks'.

"Your mother is insane," she panted once she remembered said woman thrusting a dagger into her gut.

Regina laughed through her tears, and Snow launched forward and hugged her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"For what?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

Snow just shook her head, unable to put into words what she needed to apologise for.

"You should rest," Aurora encouraged.

Mulan looked at her in shock, and she just shrugged.

Snow and Regina agreed..

"What about this Storybrooke?" Aurora quickly asked.

"Cora is probably already on her way there," Emma sighed, "we just need to use the other way to get there."

"Which is?" Regina asked.

"We need to get a magic bean from a giant."

Regina nodded, "you definitely need to rest then."

* * *

Emma woke up a few hours later to find Regina fast asleep next to her. Letting out a breath, she allowed herself to believe for a moment, that she was back in Storybrooke, and that any moment her alarm would sound.

Shaking head of the wishful thoughts, she turned to see her mother staring at her, "Jesus Mary Margret," she whispered.

"Sorry," she cringed, "couldn't sleep."

"So you decided to watch me sleep," Emma laughed quietly.

Mary Margaret looked over to see Regina still fast asleep, granted it did take her a while for her to agree to rest once Emma had been asleep for a couple of hours.

Snow offered her a small smile, "sorry."

Emma furrowed her brow and removed her arm carefully from underneath Regina, sliding down onto the floor, she sat next to her mother and looked out into the starry night beyond the tent Mulan had led them to.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Emma whispered once she got in a more comfortable position, much to everyone's amazement, Regina's kiss had also healed the stab wound, though it still stung.

"I guess...I don't know what else to say," she sighed.

Emma offered her a weak smile and nodded.

"I keep forgetting that I've known you longer, I guess we only met two days ago to you," Emma laughed.

"What happened before?" Snow asked.

"We were roommates, and we had conversations about one night stands, that fully traumatised me by the way. We were friends for a year, and then the curse broke and I suddenly had parents that were the same age as me," Emma chuckled.

Snow remained silent for a few more moments and sighed, "it's just strange trying to be a parent to a twenty-eight year old."

"Well if last time is anything to go by, you'll adjust pretty quickly," Snow answered with a weak smile, and Emma asked, "is that why you've been acting so strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well one minute you're saying that my relationship is wrong, and then you're kneeing Cora in the gut for saying the same thing," Emma laughed.

Snow nodded, and thought for a moment, "it's hard to explain...Regina was right, most of what my parents taught me was in opposition to each other, so I suppose my belief systems are a little...off."

"So why the sudden change of heart?" Emma asked.

Snow looked at Regina's sleeping form, and for a moment imagined the Evil Queen strolling cockily into her wedding and pronouncing her plan. A moment later, she remembered the young woman who had saved her from certain horse related death. She was sure in that moment that Regina would have made a great mother, though in the first few years Snow thought she had been right. But then her father died and it became painfully clear that the queen had no interest in being her mother. And now she had to deal with the fact that the Evil Queen had apparently been redeemed in another timeline, and that she was now in love with her daughter, that she had known for two days.

Honestly, she was sure that her bipolar-like behaviour was just her trying to come to terms with everything. Seeing the way that Cora treated Regina had just made her realise that she had been wrong in her reaction, but she was still certainly not okay with the situation.

Snow just shook her head and sighed, "a lot has happened in the past couple of days, I think it's just a lot to adjust to."

Emma nodded in understanding, and to her mother's amazement scooted closer to her, "don't worry, it won't take you long to adjust."

"How do you know?" Snow scoffed.

"Because, last time I was the resistant one, and you didn't give up until I got used to having people that loved me unconditionally," Emma laughed.

"And how did I do that?"

"You shot an ogre."

Snow laughed quietly, but stopped when Regina made a groaning noise and turned away.

After a moment of silence Emma said, "she's different now."

Snow nodded, "I can see that, but I did give her so many chances, it's just difficult to believe."

"Well could you give her one more chance for me?"

Snow looked into Emma's pleading eyes that were exactly like her father's and found that she was unable to deny her the chance.

Nodding she said, "how did you go back in time again?"

"Someone was trying to destroy Storybrooke, so me and Regina stopped them, and the rest I don't actually understand."

"You seem oddly calm about the whole thing," Snow frowned.

"Who would say no to a good do-over?"

"Regina," Snow mumbled.

"Mary Margaret, just give her one chance. She did save my life."

Snow thought back to the moment of complete fear, when she thought that she would only get to spend two days with her daughter. She had imagined returning to Storybrooke and explaining to her husband that she was unable to protect their little girl, but then Regina had saved her, with True Love's Kiss no less. Though she still had to get used to the idea, she could no longer deny the truth, and she no longer wanted to give her daughter a reason to have to choose between her true love and her parents.

"I promise, I'll try," she smiled weakly.

Emma laid her head on the other woman's shoulder as she had wanted to do the other day and let out a sigh of relief, "you won't regret it."

 **A/N Hope you enjoy the chapter XD I need to thank QueenApples for helping out so much with this chapter, she is a completely awesome writer who I recently co-authored a SwanQueen story with ('The King of Redemption') so please check it out if you want to. Also I was wondering how long you guys would want them to be in the EF for, with Cora already on her way to Storybrooke I was thinking that her plot as a villain should end in Storybrooke. Maybe they could return in the next chapter? Please feel free to let me know what you guys think in a review or PM J**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter twenty-six

David let out a heavy sigh as he read yet another complaint form. _Why isn't the mayor here to do this?_ He internally grumbled.

"Come one gramps, this is easy. All we need to do is pair people with who they lived with in the Enchanted Forest," Henry pointed out.

David rolled his eyes, "you need to stop being positive all the time," he laughed, "It's hard to believe you were raised by Regina."

Henry tilted his head in mock rage and replied, "she can be positive."

Charming rose his eyebrows, "when?"

"You were in a coma, so you never got to know her cursed version," he replied as he continued to pair people with houses on a map.

"She wasn't cursed," Charming argued.

"Mayor Mills and the Evil Queen is not the same person," Henry retorted. He was sick of having this conversation with people. Since David had convinced people that they couldn't pass the town line (he had pretended that he got the information from somewhere else, and Henry was beginning to wonder why people trusted him and Snow so completely) Henry had been listening to people saying horrible things about his mother. He had nearly punched Hansel, before imagining the punishment his mother would give him for such an act of violence, and had walked away with a clenched jaw.

Charming had so far stayed away from the subject, Henry was pretty sure that he was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea that Regina and Emma were actually a couple. To be fair, the boy had begun to feel sympathy for his grandfather. David had literally woken from a twenty-eight year long coma the day before, and now he was being expected to accept a daughter he had never talked to, and who wasn't even in the same realm.

David held up his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything bad about her."

"Yes you did! Everyone in this town does. They don't know anything about her, and neither do you!"

"I've known the Evil Queen a lot longer than you have, Henry. Forgive me for being hesitant about my mortal enemy being in another realm, with my wife and daughter who is apparently in love with her!" he shouted.

Henry looked at the man in shock, and silence fell over the sheriff station. He knew that Charming was desperately trying to remain calm through everything that had happened, and to his credit, he didn't faint at any point. But it looked like the prince had finally snapped.

"Mortal enemy?" Henry laughed once he had shook away the shock, "do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?"

"I thought that you were into all the fairytale...stuff," he frowned.

Henry nodded, and produced his book that he had been using for research for his pairings from behind him. Running his hands over the embossed 'Once Upon a Time', he sighed.

"I saw what happened in a future where I only saw things from one angle."

David looked thoroughly confused, and he finally deflated. Since they had jumped through that hat, all he had felt was constant stress, despite Henry's assurances that his 'moms' and Snow White would make the 'most awesome team ever' he couldn't help but constantly run through possible plans that Regina was trying to pull. Admittedly, most of them made no sense, but that didn't stop his mind from wondering to the possibilities.

"What do you mean, Henry?" David asked softly, standing from his desk, he went and sat cross legged on the floor, where the boy had set up shop.

"Mr Gold showed me what happens in the alternate future. I was so horrible to my mom, it was like I completely forgot everything good she did. She wasn't just evil, everything isn't black and white here."

Charming nodded, "I guess that makes sense, how did he see into the future?"

Henry smiled, "according to the book, he can see all futures, even if they cannot happen anymore. So he just used some magic in a pendant to show it to me."

Silence fell again, and Henry inspected the man curiously, "what's up?"

David shook his head out of his daze, "what?"

"You look like your thinking about something important."

David offered his grandson a small smile, "am I that easy to read?"

"That's the same face I use, mom said she could always tell if I had a problem or wanted candy."

Charming felt a pang of guilt, he couldn't help but wonder whether Emma had the same expression. Unlike everyone else in town, he's cursed identity was literally a name and an estranged wife. He couldn't remember anything about the way that this world worked, so he had no idea what kind of life his daughter had lived, and it was killing him that he couldn't even ask his wife.

"Emma," he finally admitted.

"She'll be back soon," Henry laughed, "don't you believe that you'll always find each other."

David nodded, "I know that they'll be back soon. It's just...once they are back...what do I say to her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do I say 'hey, I'm your father, it's nice to meet you,' I don't know anything about her."

Henry frowned and nodded. In that moment, he realised that he was basically in the same position. He had spent much of the past couple days either with or worrying about his adoptive mother. He had spent about half an hour with his birth mother before running away. Though, he didn't regret what had been avoided through his mom's second chance, he couldn't help but long for a version of himself who had two loving mothers, both of whom he knew equally. But from what he knew of the alternate future, it didn't seem like that would have happened anyway.

"I guess I don't know her that well either," the boy frowned.

Charming's phone began to ring, and he looked apologetically at the boy, before looking at the caller ID.

"What's up?" he asked.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, he nodded, "I'll be right there."

"What happened?" Henry asked, though he was still thinking about his blonde mother.

"Some kids have decided to play in the forest, and their parents are afraid that they won't know where the town line is."

Henry nodded, "I'm coming."

"Henry-"

"I am literally the only person who cannot lose their memories."

Charming seemed to think about it for a moment, before he nodded, "fine, come on."

* * *

Charming and Henry had decided to split up and cover more ground, with Henry having promised to hold onto a walkie-talkie.

The boy half-heartedly looked for the kids, with his thoughts being focused mainly on Emma.

He was more than happy that he had Regina back, he was also relieved that he had avoided the future that each of his parents had lived through.

Two days ago, he had one parent who he pretended not to love, and now he had a blonde mother, and very soon he would have a father. It was more than overwhelming, and the moment he realised that he knew next to nothing about a mother who had clearly already bonded with him made him feel beyond guilty. He had spent the last couple days blaming her for something that clearly wasn't her fault and trying to force her to believe. _Do I always have to blame someone?_ he thought, while topping a hill.

"I found them," came over the radio.

Henry ignored this for a moment as a huge mansion came into sight, and for some reason he felt indescribably drawn to it.

Shaking his head, he held up the radio, "I'll meet you soon."

"Henry, where are you?" his grandfather asked worriedly, _is he like a natural parent figure?_ he thought with an internal laugh.

"I'm only ten minutes east from where we split up...I found something, can you come and meet me?"

"What did you find?" David asked sceptically, though Henry heard that he had already started to walk.

"It's this big mansion thing that I've never seen before; I think that it must have something to do with the curse breaking. Can we check it out?"

After a short pause his grandfather replied, "just wait for me."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Henry and Charming were searching the mansion, with Charming having refused to split up. Henry had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with not wanting to lose the Evil Queen and Saviour's son, and his clear reluctance last time.

"Henry, this is just someone's house," David frowned, as he inspected the various ornaments, "I don't think there's anything here."

Henry nodded, only half listening, while he looked at the book collection. His hand hovered over the many classics that his mother had read to him, as well as some titles that he didn't recognise, but as he got to the middle of the shelf, he furrowed his brow and pulled out his storybooks twin. Everything about it was the same, except for the title: 'The Queen and her Saviour."

"I found something," he announced.

"A book?" Charming asked sceptically as he threw down a random box on a table.

"I don't think it's just a book," Henry replied, as he fell to the ground into his cross legged position.

David gave him another disbelieving look, before following his lead.

"Then what is it?" he laughed as Henry opened it and began to read it out loud.

 _'"You're Henry's birth mother?" the distressed brunette asked._

 _The blonde swallowed hard, and offered a small smile, "hi."_

 _Regina took a moment to compose herself, before asking, "how would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?"_

 _"Got anything stronger?" Emma laughed'_

Charming furrowed his brow, "I still don't get it."

Henry continued to flip through the book, and saw an image of Emma in the holding cell and then another with the blonde taking a chainsaw to his mother's apple tree.

"No way," he whispered.

"What?" Charming laughed nervously, to be completely honest he found it creepy that there was a book detailing most of his life, he wasn't keen on there being more of them.

"Mom told me that this is what originally happened, this is a book of the alternate future."

David felt his throat go slightly dry, and he took the offered book and began flipping through it. He saw a picture of Kathryn slapping Mary Margaret, Emma kissing Henry with a distraught Regina in the background, he and Snow hugging their daughter for the first time.

"This is awesome," Henry smiled, "we can find out everything about Emma."

Charming ran his hand over a scene of Mary Margaret shooting an ogre, with the words 'stay away from my daughter,' on the adjoining page.

"I think we have some reading to do."

 **A/N I think they will be in the Enchanted Forest for a few more chapters, but Cora will be in Storybrooke in probably the next chapter.**

 **Sorry if this chapter isn't of the best quality, I have a chest infection :( but let me know if you guys want anything different and I'll try and change it when I'm fully better :)**

 **Anyway, hope you guys enjoy, and I need to thank QueenApples for all her usual help :)**


	27. Chapter 27

_Chapter twenty-seven_

 _Regina opened her eyes, and looked around the familiar oblivion. Knowing the rules of a sleeping curse, she never expected to be allowed back to her little purgatory. She had actually spent the last couple hours debating whether going to sleep would be worth the fiery pit, wanting to watch Emma alive and breathing was only part of the reason she had put up so much of a fuss about going to sleep._

 _She inspected her surroundings, am I alone? She wondered, as she waited for the fires Henry had once described to come bursting through the floor, but she stood for minutes and still nothing happened._

 _The brunette simply shrugged and went and leant against an invisible wall, shouldn't complain I suppose?_

 _"What have I told you about slouching?" a female voice asked playfully._

 _Regina turned her head and instantly stood up straight, which caused her mother's face to contort in guilt, "I was joking," she said quickly._

 _Regina nodded, but steadily retreated from the woman she hadn't long talked to._

 _"Regina, this is a dream," Cora assured._

 _An image of Cora driving her hand into Daniel's chest flashed to Regina's mind, the woman who had bound her with tree branches, forced her to marry the king._

 _Regina shook her head and found she was unable to form words. She felt like she did with the ogre, only this time she was faced with the woman who had set the optical illusions upon a child, but at the same time she was a completely different woman. To say that Regina was confused about everything was an understatement._

 _Then an image of Cora thrusting a cursed dagger flashed into Emma's stomach flashed into her mind and she felt anger erupt, and she began to stalk towards the other woman._

 _"How could you?" she shouted._

 _"Regina, I didn't-" Cora tried, she had been truly horrified by what she had seen herself do, she had genuinely hoped that Snow White would kill her again, just so she couldn't hurt her daughter anymore._

 _"But you would," Regina replied, as a fire ball appeared in her hand. The younger woman looked down at her hand in shock._

 _Cora answered her unasked questions with her hands held up in surrender, "this is your own personal space, you can make anything happen, including making me appear."_

 _Regina looked at her other hand, and another fire ball appeared._

 _"You killed Daniel, and you proved today that you would do it again, and this time there was not a reason that even a twisted evil bitch like you could come up with."_

 _"Your right," Cora replied calmly, though she visibly winced, "and if you think hurting me would make you feel better than by all means, use every spell you know."_

 _Regina inspected her for a moment, and realised just how irrational she was being. Letting out a heavy sigh she closed her hands around the tiny burning infernos and turned away from her mother._

 _"I've just always wanted a mother," she sniffled, desperately hoping she wouldn't see her cry._

 _Cora offered a small sad smile to her daughters back, she walked over and placed her hand on the woman's shoulder._

 _"I know that I've never been the best of mothers to you," Regina scoffed, and Cora continued after a brief pause, "but now I know that I want to be." Regina remained silent for a moment, before she turned to face her mother._

 _Cora smiled, and ran her thumb across a silent tear._

 _"You promised you wouldn't allow me to hurt anyone you love," Cora reminded her after a few moments silence._

 _Regina shook her head, "at least she's alive." Cora winced, and Regina deflated, "I just meant-"_

 _"No, you don't have to explain," she quickly replied, "I deserve every quip and fireball you have."_

 _Regina smiled, and nodded vigorously, "well maybe eventually you won't."_

 _"From what I've seen that will take a while. But please understand," before she continued, Cora brought Regina's hand over her beating heart, "that I can love you."_

 _Regina smiled at the sensation she felt under her fingers, before a pressing question occurred to her, "are you against Emma and I?"_

 _Cora shook her head softly and she let her daughter's hand drop, "I was just generally against love, seeing that you were attracted to both men and women made it less likely that you would marry into royalty in my mind. That's why I taught you that your 'tendencies' were wrong, but believe me when I say that you couldn't have found a better suitor than the saviour."_

 _Regina let out a light hearted laugh, "you approve?"_

 _"Your father told me that she has saved your life enough to deserve a million chances."_

 _"She certainly has, but I don't think you should tell her that."_

 _Cora laughed, and silence fell._

 _Regina fell back against an invisible wall with a sigh._

 _Cora furrowed her brow, "what's wrong?"_

 _"I suppose, I just want you to come back with me and send her here," Regina laughed darkly, "You're a completely different people."_

 _Cora nodded in understanding, "love is a powerful thing, without the ability to feel, it becomes difficult to be who you really are."_

 _"So love isn't weakness?" Regina laughed mockingly._

 _"I think you have proven me wrong," Cora retorted, and much to Regina's shock, she leaned next to her._

 _Regina nodded, and gave her a half smile._

 _"I may not be able to return with you, but if you wish to try and return her heart, I can promise you that there is no way she can resist loving you."_

 _"And if you're wrong?"_

 _"Then I am confident that you can protect yourself, with Emma you're practically unstoppable."_

 _The younger woman smiled at her mother and silence fell again._

 _"Why am I allowed to be here?" Regina asked after a moment._

 _"I suppose you deserved a break from being tortured," Cora laughed sadly._

 _Regina looked in her mother's now slightly watery eyes, and saw true remorse, "I have forgiven you...for the most part," Cora laughed, and Regina added, "but you're not the problem."_

 _"I love you, you certainly should have been enough," Cora said after a few more moments of silence._

 _Regina smiled broadly at the words, and replied; "now I just need another version of you to say that."_

 _Cora nodded in agreement, and they sighed in unison._

"Regina, it's time to go," Emma whispered softly.

Regina let a small sigh as she opened her eyes, to be met with the forest green ones.

Smiling broadly she leaned up and attached their lips in a short good morning kiss.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" Emma laughed, as she helped Regina to sit up.

"Just happy you're alive."

The blonde nodded in agreement, and put an arm around the smaller woman's shoulder, and leaned in for another kiss.

"I'm complaining," Snow announced.

Emma and Regina looked over to see the other woman packing their bags and they each laughed as she was adamantly looking away from the smitten couple.

 **A/N So I need to give credit to LauratheChef for the title 'The Queen and her Savior' that I used in the last chapter. It turns out that I subconsciously copied it haha, but I urge you guys to check out her story of the same title XD**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'm literally not allowed to leave the sofa surrounded by medication, so I've had a lot of time to write XD lol Please feel free to review, it would be much appreciated.**

 **As always I need to thank QueenApples, who is now my official beta :)**

 **I decided to try out beta-reading, so please pm me if your looking for a beta, it looks like it should be fun :)**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter twenty-eight

"This isn't fair!" Emma exclaimed again as she clung tighter to Regina's waist.

"Will you stop moaning," she laughed at the increased pressure.

The horse continued its steady gallop, and Emma began whimpering.

"You said you would learn how to ride if I dealt with an ogre."

Emma shook her head and pulled herself closer to her girlfriend, "I said I would learn in Storybrooke, like you know way in the future."

Regina chuckled, "you are literally just sitting on a horse, and we're going so slow that the chances of injury are astronomical."

"So you admit that there is a chance," Emma retorted.

Regina rolled her eyes, and they were interrupted by Mulan (with Aurora saddled behind her) turning back, "I suggested the horses because I thought it would be faster."

Emma shook her head, "well obviously not, can we walk now."

Snow rode up behind them, and tried not to laugh at her daughter, only partly because she felt shame at the fact that she didn't know where the fear stems from.

"Emma, you're still hurt," Snow pointed out.

Emma pouted again, and Regina sighed, "we could already be there if I was allowed to use magic."

"I voted yes on that plan," the blonde defended.

Mulan and Snow shook their heads in unison and Emma deflated "fine, can we switch places? I feel like I'm going to fall off its ass."

Regina shook her head in exasperation and jumped off the horse. Emma brought herself towards it neck and the brunette sat behind her.

Once they had manoeuvred the reins into Regina's hands, she whispered, "this means were going faster," which caused the saviour to go pale.

* * *

Cora approached Lake Nostros.

"So how does this work?" the insufferable pirate asked.

Cora closed her eyes in frustration. After deeming that she would rather not climb a beanstalk, she had employed the services of one, Captain Hook. But now she had no desire to continue her travels with the flippant man, who she was sure would betray her at the drop of a hat.

Holding out her hand, Hook gave her the compass she had sent him to get, having refused to do so until they actually got to the portal.

"Now I achieve my goal, and you leave," she replied calmly as she began to empty the wardrobe dust.

"You can't-" he started as he began to draw his sword.

Cora rolled her eyes, and sank her hand into his chest. Ripping out his heart, he began to make a whimpering noise.

"You need my help."

"Believe me, I don't." Without a second thought she turned his heart to dust, determined to reach her goal of dealing with her ungrateful daughter's poor decisions once again.

* * *

David looked out into starry night as he finished reading the book for the fourth time.

With every word he began to miss Emma and Snow all the more, and he finally felt as if he knew at least something about her.

As much as he enjoyed getting to know his grandson, he couldn't help but worry. Although, he could now see how different Regina was from 'her timeline' but he still couldn't help but think that she had some elaborate plan to ruin his family.

He had yet to sleep and had only just gotten Henry to agree to do so.

"Hey," said boy said.

"You're supposed to be asleep," David smiled sadly as he continued to stare a picture of Emma.

"So are you," he retorted.

David just let out a laugh and nodded; Henry smirked and sat next to him on Snow's bed.

"She's pretty awesome isn't she?" Henry smiled.

"That she is," David chuckled, "I just...want to talk to her."

"I thought you were afraid."

David shook his head, "now I basically have a script."

Henry burst out laughing and David couldn't help but join in.

"I don't think you'll need that 'script'" a female voice announced.

David looked up and instantly his throat constricted.

"You're...Cora."

Cora raised her eyebrow at the stuttering prince and simply nodded.

David began to look around for his sword, only to realise that Emma never actually gave it back, and settled on standing up in front of Henry.

"How are you here?" Henry squeaked. Regina had told him a lot about Cora the other night, and he honestly didn't understand why his mother would want her back.

"Your dearest saviour gave me some invaluable information."

"She wouldn't help you," Charming tried.

"Oh, don't worry Charming, she got something in exchange," she chuckled.

Charming paled and Henry looked on in confusion.

"What did you do to her?" he croaked out, considering whether it would be possible to get a kitchen knife.

"I simply dealt with her;" David swallowed hard, and Cora continued, "death curses are quite effective."

 _No, no, no, no,_ kept running on repeat in Charming's mind as he just stared at the woman.

"Now that is settled, may I talk to my grandson," she asked tauntingly.

"Grandson?" Charming asked half-heartedly, still imagining the many scenario's under which this witch could have killed his daughter, and not believing any one of them. _Snow would have done something, right? Hell I would even settle for Regina saving her._

Cora rolled her eyes, and simply waved her hand, freezing Charming in place.

Henry only just seemed to notice what had happened, as he continued to stare at the picture of Emma in the book. _She can't be dead, good always wins, right?_

"What do you want?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'm simply securing my daughter her happy ending."

"My mom is already happy," Henry tried, desperately hoping that Charming was trying to fight his magical binds. Cora furrowed her brow for a moment, she had expected the boy resent Regina. Frankly she was surprised to find that Regina even had a child. But with some glamour and a trip to Granny's she had found out everything she needed to know with surprising ease.

"No, she simply thinks she is. I have not made it my life's work for her to settle for anything but absolute power. You are the only obstacle to that."

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him of the bed.

"What are you going to do?" he asked fearfully.

"Let's just say that Regina can only reach her true potential if you never exist."

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated :) Hope you guys enjoy**

 **Also I would appreciate it if you guys could check out 'I Can't Lose You' which is an angsty story that I've recently decided to continue (with the advice of QueenApples as per usual XD)**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter twenty-nine

"Okay, we're here," Emma announced, though it was completely unnecessary.

"We can see that Miss Swan," Regina laughed as the big ass bean stalk came into view.

Emma grumbled which caused the brunette to chuckle.

Stopping at its base, Snow marvelled at the overgrown plant for a few moments.

"Explain to me why we're here again," she asked.

Emma nodded, "we need to get a petrified magic bean, soak it in the last drops of Lake Nostros and then find a ship and sail back to Storybrooke."

"That sounds completely idiotic," Regina answered, "and how do you suppose we get up this monster?"

"Magic," Emma laughed while shaking her head.

"I thought you were dead set against any forms of magic."

Emma leaned back slightly and turned her head towards Regina's face, "something changed my mind, your majesty."

Snow quickly cleared her throat and Emma jumped forward, "err...we need you to enchant something so we can keep the strength through the whole climb."

Regina nodded, considering this for a moment; she walked over to Snow and took two of the bangles that she was wearing off her wrist.

Snow was about to protest, before they each began to glow a deep shade of purple.

Emma smiled at Regina's work, and was about to grab one of the bracelets, only for Regina to quickly move it away.

"You are in no condition to climb a beanstalk."

Emma sighed in frustration, and made to grab it again, only for it to be taken out of reach, "I'm fine," she defended.

"You were stabbed not eight hours ago."

"Okay, who should go then?" she asked with crossed arms.

"Me and..." Regina looked at her options, immediately ruling out Aurora and she didn't exactly trust Mulan, so that left only one. _Emma did say that she promised to try and trust me,_ she internally sighed. "...Snow."

Regina handed her one of the bracelets and Snow began to shake her head, like if she did it hard enough she would be excused.

"Do you want to get back to Charming?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

Snow continued to give her a doubtful look, and Regina just placed the bracelet on her own wrist, which caused Snow to roll her eyes and do the same.

"So what do we do when we get up there?"

Emma quickly wiped her hand across her face, _what could possibly go wrong,_ "Anton is a nice giant," she began.

"There are actually giants up there?" Snow choked.

"All the more reason for me to be up there," Regina laughed, which only caused Snow to frown deeper.

"There's only one giant that actually hates humans because they like killed his entire family. But if you can prove that you're friendly then he'll help."

Regina raised an eyebrow at the blonde, who just let out a dramatic sigh.

"Just be nice."

"I guess you do need me," Snow said, Regina looked as if she was about to retort.

Emma put her head in her hands, "maybe you should start with being nice to each other."

"We'll be fine," Regina replied, and walking up to the blonde she placed a small peck on her lips, "see you soon."

Snow's jaw clenched, _how long will that take to get used to?_

Emma gave her girlfriend and small wave as she began to climb (after magically changing her outfit of course) and then turned to her mother.

"You promised remember?" she whispered.

Snow nodded, "I'll try my best."

Emma hugged her, noticing quickly how that seemed to cheer up the woman, and replied, "That's all I ask."

* * *

"Ruby," Charming shouted down the phone, (that Henry had spent an hour showing him how to use).

"David," Ruby yawned, "what's up?"

"Henry...Cora has him."

Ruby sat up in her bed, "oh no...Who's Cora?"

"Regina's mother."

"Does that mean evil is genetic?" she pondered.  
"Ruby!" Charming said again.

"Right sorry, I'll be right there."

Ten minutes later, Ruby smelt one of Henry's sweaters as Charming paced back and forth.

 _They are going to kill me,_ he kept thinking between his worries for his grandson.

"Did she poof away?"

Charming shook his head, "I don't know, I just kind of blacked out."

"There's no fresh trail," she admitted, "she does have magic right?"

"Yeah," he sighed, plopping down on the bed. "How can everything go so wrong in a day?"

Ruby sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "we'll find him, she won't be able to hurt him."

Charming nodded, though he was beginning to understand why Regina hated hope speeches so much.

* * *

"Why _my_ daughter?" Snow whispered as they finally got to the top, Regina had frankly been quite happy to climb in silence.

Regina looked around to make sure that there were no giants and to catch her breath.

"Really...now?" she breathed.

"This is important," Snow replied adamantly.

Regina rolled her eyes, "I don't know how to answer that Snow."

"Why did you have to fall in love with her?"

"Why did you fall in love with Charming?" Regina whispered still looking around the area.

"That's different," Snow said after a moment.

"Why?" Regina asked indignantly, completely forgetting to whisper.

"Because...because..."

"Because this isn't how _you_ wanted things to happen?"Regina cut her off.

"No of course it's not. I wanted Emma to grow up in a castle and have children with a prince. But because of you she grew up alone, and now apparently she's so emotionally damaged that you are the only person that she feels capable to love."

Regina clenched her fists, _looks like the only thing that can shut her up is climbing a beanstalk._

"I'm not the one that put a new born in a box and shipped her to Maine, will you just get over it?" she yelled.

"The curse broke ten hours ago!"

Regina opened her mouth to retort, only to be interrupted as the floor began to shake and dust began to crumble from the old stone structures.

Each brunette looked at each other nervously.

"Emma said it's a nice giant right?"

Regina nodded looking around and trying to spot their potential attacker.

"Who's there?" A deep voice bellowed.

"Split up?" Snow asked, Regina nodded again and made a bow appear in Snow's hand, with that they each ran in opposite directions each hoping they could find this bean quickly.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, would really appreciate reviews XD**

 **Also I apolygise if Snow is starting to annoy you lol, I promise she'll accept them eventually haha**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter thirty

Anton looked in earnest for the intruders.

He had been quietly dozing when the two humans had invaded his peace. The moment he had heard the beginnings of their petty argument he knew that neither of the trespassers deserved to live and he was determined to make sure that they didn't. The only issue was that they seemed to be better coordinated than they first appeared, as they each scampered off in opposite directions, no doubt looking to steal some of his treasure.

Loudly the giant stomped around, but it seemed as though they had each disappeared into thin air. That was until he saw a wisp of movement from behind a pillar.

A huge smile adorned his face as he approached, to find a short haired woman pointing a tiny arrow at him. She shot it a moment later, he batted away the tiny annoying stick, before he bent down and picked her up from the back of her jumper.

"Who are you?" he bellowed.

The woman seemed to get paler at his question and she began stuttering incomprehensibly.

Just as he was about to crush her, he felt his wrist cramp, the woman dropped to the ground with a small yelp. Anton looked down, fully expecting the woman to be crushed by her fall, only to find her floating inches from the ground.

"You idiot," a voice sighed from behind the giant.

Anton turned to see a woman retracting her hand, _one of them has magic,_ he realised fearfully.

"Why have you invaded my home?"

"We just need to get what we need and we'll be on our way," the magical brunette answered.

Anton clenched his jaw, _why do all humans have to be so entitled?_

Deciding that death would be too good for the duo that had ruined his day, he bent down and picked both of them up. Before either of them could do anything in response he threw them into one of the many cages dotted around for human intruders.

"Well unless it is in there, you won't be finding it any time soon," he replied. With one last look to see that they were truly trapped, he stomped away to leave to them starve.

* * *

"We've been in here for half an hour," Snow sighed.

Regina rolled her eyes as she continued to inspect the lock, "I'm well aware, you can't possibly blame me for the lock being enchanted."

Snow huffed and crossed her arms, and she spent the next few moments in silence.

"Why did you do it?"

"What have I done now?" Regina huffed, as she completed the last unlocking spell she knew and fell to a sitting position in defeat.

"You saved me from the giant," Snow whispered.

Regina raised her eyebrow at the other woman, "and why wouldn't I do that?"

"If I had died than you could have just told Emma that it was an accident."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Regina laughed.

Snow gave her a look of outrage and the queen rolled her eyes.

"Still can't take a joke?"

"I suppose I'm just not used to you making them," Snow replied after a moment.

A moment of silence fell between them, before Regina finally answered her question, "Emma needs you."

"No she doesn't, she's a grown woman."

"You have a lot to catch up on then, believe me, our dear saviour is quite uncouth," Regina laughed.

A small smirk came across Snow's face as she thought about her daughter's mannerisms.

"How are we going to get out of here?" she asked eventually.

"I've tried everything," Regina sighed as she gestured towards the lock.

Snow stared at the lock for a moment, before she asked, "does it have to be a spell?" Regina shrugged and Snow added, "can you conjure lock picks?"

"You know how to pick a lock?" Regina scoffed, though she was secretly ashamed that she hadn't thought of this simple solution.

"Bandit," Snow replied while pointing at herself.

Regina raised her eyebrow, but despite this she waved her hand and a set of lock picks appeared.

"So assuming this works, what is your great plan for dealing with the giant?"

"Emma said that he's friendly, so we just need to be friendly," Snow reasoned as he began her work on the lock, it clicked a moment later with the gate swinging open.

"And how do you suppose we prevent ourselves from being crushed while we're being 'friendly'?" Regina asked.

Snow thought this through for a moment, before she nodded, "okay, you paralyse him and then I'll explain what's going on."

"And if he still wants to kill us?"

Snow shrugged, "to be honest, the first plan usually works for me."

"Of course it does, "Regina whispered as she began to follow her ex-stepdaughter back towards the giant.

* * *

"What are you going to do to me?" Henry asked from his tied up position.

Cora looked up from the book that she had been reading and narrowed her eyes, "I told you to be quiet."

The boy continued to resist against the magical rope tying him to a chair, and eventually with a sigh he gave up and sat back. Instead he decided to inspect his surroundings. He was in a strangely ominous place that he had never seen before, though he had a feeling that he knew what it was. When Emma had sent them to get Cora's heart, Regina had refused to allow him to enter the vault, now surrounded by the sound of beating hearts and the creepy looking magical instruments, he was glad that she had so adamantly said no.

"What are you going to do to my mom?" he tried again.

Cora growled and snapped the book shut, "it is difficult for me to enjoy Regina's vast library with all the interruptions."

The woman stalked towards him, and Henry felt fear grip at him. _Is this how mom used to feel when she was young?_ He wondered.

"She won't let you hurt me," Henry said weakly as he tried to lean away from her.

Waving her hand over his face, his head lolled to the side, and the boy began to make soft snoring sounds that anyone with a heart would have found cute.

"Oh, I am counting on it," she replied to the unconscious boy.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed :)**

 **Also QueenApples and I were discussing pairings, and we thought about RedBeauty and GoldenHeart (pretty sure that's the name for Cora/Rumpel lol) but if we did do this than I would need to pair Graham with someone else, any thoughts? Perhaps Tinkerbell? or would you guys prefer him to stay with Ruby and then have Rumbelle and no Cora pairing?**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter thirty-one

"This is ridiculous," Mulan sighed as she continued her pace.

"It takes a pretty big bean stalk," Emma replied without sitting up, continuing to look up at length of the plant from her position of lying next to it.

"So we're supposed to just wait here?" the warrior ground out.

Emma rolled her eyes and sat up, "they won't take that long," she replied.

"And you expect me to just trust her?" Mulan ground out.

Emma raised her eyebrow, and stood up, "if this _her_ is Regina, then yes."

"She is the Evil-"

"I swear to-"Emma began, only be interrupted.

Aurora quickly jumped up to her feet, and held her hands up between them.

"There is no need to argue," each woman continued to look at each other angrily and the princess sighed, "they have done nothing but help us," she pointed out.

Mulan took a calming breath and nodded, "I'm going to get more firewood."

Emma watched her walk away and fell back down to the ground and looked at Aurora curiously.

"What?" she laughed nervously.

"Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

Aurora began sputtering something and the blonde held up her hand.

"You don't hide your feelings very well," she laughed, "I see you blush every time she comes near you."

"We haven't long met," Aurora sighed, as she joined Emma on the ground, "and I'm fairly certain that she had feeling for Phillip."

Emma smiled knowingly; she had witnessed part of this unfounded love triangle once, each woman believing that the other was interested in the man.

"What makes you so sure?"The blonde asked, desperate not to freak out the other woman with some line like 'I'm from the future.'

"My brother has always-"

Emma quickly held up her hands, "whoa, Phillip is your brother? What about the True Love's kiss?"

Aurora furrowed her brow, "he kissed me on the cheek I think, do people think we're-"

Emma nodded and Aurora's face contorted in disgust, _how could Mulan not know that he's her brother?_

"Does Mulan know?" Emma asked quickly.

Aurora furrowed her brow in concentration, and Emma couldn't help but feel like she just had to end this much more disturbing love triangle right now.

The princess simply shrugged, as the warrior came back with a pile of wood.

The blonde looked between them, and began to form a plan, "so did we tell you how we're going to find your brother Aurora?"

Mulan stiffened and dropped the pile of wood, "Phillip isn't her brother," she said defensively.

Aurora stared at the warrior for a moment, slightly pleased when she saw a hint of jealousy, "actually he is," she smiled.

Mulan nodded, running through every time that Phillip talked about Aurora, realising that he never once said anything about them being romantically involved. _How could he not have mentioned that she is his sister?_ She thought somewhat bitterly.

The warrior continued nodding, and swallowed hard, "so how are you going to find him?"

"Locator spell probably," Emma shrugged and lay back down, this time with a small smirk as Mulan awkwardly announced that they needed more firewood despite the copious amounts she had already collected.

* * *

Regina and Snow snuck up behind the giant, and they each marvelled at his size for a moment.

 _This is idiotic,_ Regina thought, before Snow held up three fingers and began silently counting down

Closing her eyes, Regina allowed her magic to flow forward. She imagined the metaphorical tendrils surrounding the giant and holding him in place. A moment later, his loud crunching of some animal stopped, and a rather large bone dropped to the ground.

Snow let out a sigh of relief, realising that this meant Regina had been successful.

They each walked towards the giant, who seemed only to be able to move his facial features and was using them well to give them piercing deadly looks.

"How did you get out?" he asked, "The lock was enchanted beyond the skill of any sorceress."

"You forgot to guard it against the skill of a common thief," Regina replied, which earned her an eye roll from Snow.

Anton closed his eyes in frustration and asked, "What do you want from me?"

"We simply ask that you hear what we have to say," Snow offered.

The giant looked at the woman distrustfully and replied, "And what about this situation would warrant that?"

"Errr..." Snow began, only to be interrupted by the other brunette.

"The spell is simply to ensure that you cannot hurt us, but believe me when I say that we have no intention of causing you any harm. We are simply here to ask for your assistance if you are willing to give it."

Snow gave the other woman a dumbfounded expression, _she can be nice,_ she thought.

Anton inspected them for a moment with narrowed eyes, "and why should I believe that?"

Regina thought for a moment, and waved her hand, realising the giant from his restraints.

Anton moved his arms to test them out, and turned his attention back to the magic doer, "and what is stopping me from simply killing you for trespassing like that other human from earlier?"

"Other human?" Snow asked cautiously.

"That one handed man, he knocked me unconscious and left me for dead."

"Killian knocked you unconscious?" Regina asked.

"Who's Killian?" Snow whispered.

"Captain Hook, of course," Regina replied.

"Of course, how silly of me," Snow grumbled petulantly which earned her an eye roll.

"He sprang one of the traps left by that wretched prince upon me; I only just about managed to escape."

Regina nodded in understanding, waving her hand a purple smoke engulfed the area, "there are no longer any snares or traps," she replied.

Anton watched as one of the trip wires disappeared, _I no longer have to watch my step,_ he thought with a smile.

Standing from his seat, he bent down and asked, "what is it you want?"

"We need to get back to _our_ family," Snow replied, which earned her a surprised look from the other woman. "We need a magic bean."

Anton nodded in understanding, but sighed, "I'm afraid there are none left."

"Not even a petrified bean?" Regina asked desperately.

The giant raised his eyebrow, before he pulled the last remaining beans out of his pocket, "it won't aid you in crossing realms." Despite his words, he brought his palm down to the ground and Regina grabbed one of them.

"It's exactly what we need," she smiled down at her ticket home and added, "thank you."

"Now if you would please leave my home, before I change my mind," he said as he straightened up and walked away.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I don't know why but I felt like updating again haha**

 **I hope that the SleepingWarrior storyline makes sense, I just thought it would be a good way to get them together without the need for a real love triangle (I generally hate them anyway lol)**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter thirty-two

Hours later, the group were back on the road, this time following a floating piece of material that belonged to Phillip.

Snow and Mulan's horses galloped ahead, with Emma tightly clung to Regina's waist, since she refused to steer the horse from the back, Aurora behind them with her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Did you do something?" Regina asked as she looked at the contemplating princess.

Emma looked back at Sleeping Beauty, and replied, "I found out that Phillip is her brother."

Regina nodded, "so?"

"Oh, Mulan thought they were together and Aurora thinks that Mulan likes Phillip, when they obviously like each other."

"Are you playing matchmaker?" Regina laughed.

"I guess I want everybody to be happy as I am," she smirked.

Regina raised her eyebrow, "if you're going to always be this charming I may need to reconsider."

Emma put on a face of mock hurt, and pouted, "just trying to be a good girlfriend, Gina."

Regina scoffed, "Gina?"

"Too soon?" Emma asked with a sheepish smile.

"No, not at all Em," Regina retorted.

Emma's face contorted into one of hyperbolic disgust, and nodded, "fine you made your point Regina."

Snow looked back, and only slightly rolled her eyes, when she saw the pair clearly having yet another mushy conversation.

"The spell stopped," she shouted.

Aurora looked up in excitement, but furrowed her brow when she noticed that they were back at camp.

Emma shrugged, "he did say that he would be going back to camp."

Mulan rolled her eyes and jumped off her horse, "so this entire endeavour was pointless," she sighed.

"You still get to come back to Storybrooke with us," Emma called as the warrior walked back to her tent.

"Remind why we needed them," Snow said as she rode up next to them.

Emma shrugged, "things didn't go as smoothly last time," which earned her a triumphant smile from the queen, with that the three of them each jumped off their respective horses.

"So now what?" Snow asked.

"Now we just need the water from Lake Nostros," Emma smiled, as she saw Aurora run towards her brother and hug him fiercely, Mulan noticeably less tense than the last time they had been together.

"That's miles from here," Snow sighed, only for purple smoke to bellow next to her.

"Got it," Regina said as she held up the now green bean.

Emma tried to hold back a laugh as her mother just stared blankly at Regina for a few moments.

Emma picked the bean out of the woman's fingers and inspected it, "this is why I voted we use magic," she chuckled.

Snow shook her head as they finally approached the reunion, other than what looked like a broken arm and a few scratches, he looked just fine.

"So you broke your arm after the ogre left?" Aurora laughed.

"I fell," he said in defence, "I survived three ogres and this is what you focus on."

Aurora just shook her head, "I just don't understand how you can be so clumsy."

Phillip sighed audibly, and Emma just smirked, _they are definitely siblings._

The prince turned to the three women before him, and he offered them smiles, "Aurora tells me that you have offered to take us somewhere safer."

Snow nodded vigorously and was about to answer before Regina cut in, "you should probably bring anyone that will come, it is much safer."

Again Snow looked blankly at the queen; _I don't think I'll ever get used to this._

"They'll need time to decide," Phillip frowned.

Emma nodded in understanding, but she was also very aware of the fact that she hated this place with a passion, "we're kind of on a schedule."

"Can they at least have until morning?"

"Do you have any chimera?" Emma asked eagerly, which earned her curious looks from each of the other women, "what? I liked it," she whispered.

"I think it may be the only thing we have," Phillip chuckled.

"Then they have until morning," Emma said quickly, before she grabbed Regina's arm and went off in search of food.

* * *

Mulan smiled, as she sat next to the prince, "hello Phillip, glad to see you're alright."

Phillip nodded in agreement, and a comfortable silence fell over them, as he handed her a chalice of wine, "thank you for protecting my sister."

Mulan sighed, and thought for a moment, before she said, "that's the first time you called her your sister."

Phillip's mouth opened slightly before he realised that she was right "what's your point?"

"I thought that she was your true love," she replied with an exasperated sigh.

Phillip furrowed his brow and shook his head, "my true love was caught up in the dark curse, I was actually going to try and find an away to get to this Storybrooke after I woke up Aurora."

Mulan closed her eyes in frustration. The moment that she had seen the sleeping princess, she had known that she was attracted to her, but she had just felt guilt for her feelings, now it seemed as though there was nothing in the way.

"I just thought that-"

Phillip held up his hand with a small smile, "if you need help talking to her, then I can offer my services."

The warrior smiled broadly at him after a moment, and with a small laugh replied, "I may take you up on that."

* * *

"You're worse than Henry," Regina sighed as the blonde bit into a thigh of meat.

"It's good," Emma said around her food.

Regina covered her face in her hands, and looked over to see Snow talking to the various camp members, _probably explaining what Storybrooke is,_ she thought, only slightly wishing that she could be doing that instead of watching this monstrosity.

"Swallow," she said with an exasperated sigh.

Emma rolled her eyes, and audibly swallowed, "want some?" she asked as she waved the meat in front of her face.

"Do you not know me at all?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's just food."

"It's more like food poisoning, and I have never had chimera in my life. I am a queen and a bit more refined," she said firmly.

"You're not a queen anymore, madam mayor," Emma smirked as she continued to wave the food in front of her.

Regina swatted it away with only a half angry sigh and Emma finally put it down with a laugh.

"Stop pouting," Regina laughed at the childish blonde.

"Then try it."

"Why is this so important?" she asked seriously.

"Because it's good," Emma replied as she pulled a bit of it off the bone and handed it to her, "pretty please."

"If will stop acting like a child then fine," she replied as she placed the repugnant meat into her mouth. A few moments of chewing later, and she sighed dramatically, "fine, it is good."

"Yes!" Emma said in triumph, as she placed more in front of her girlfriend.

"If this makes me sick, then you get your own horse," Regina said seriously as she began to dissect the food into smaller pieces.

Emma's face dropped and Regina chuckled.

 **A/N So this is kind of a fluffy filler chapter haha don't worry some serious stuff is going to happen in the next one, so I thought you may appreciate something happy lol**

 **Also, as a thank you for all of** **the support I'm starting a competition that will run until the next chapter is posted.**

 **The first two people to PM me (please don't put the answer in a review) with the answer to this question will get a custom one-shot that could become a multi-chapter fic if there's enough plot. The question is quite easy this time, but let me know if you guys want me to make this a regular thing and I would probably make the questions more difficult (but they would always be OUAT trivia)**

 **The question is:**

 **'What does Regina's name mean in Latin?'**

 **Hope you guys like this idea, since I'm always looking for ideas anyway :) and let me know how often you would want me to hold these competitions if I did continue XD**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N Hey, so here I am with another chapter, I was just having a really bad day yesterday and I let that review get to me more than I probably should have. But the good news is that thanks to all of you guys I probably now have more confidence than before XD**

 **I will definitely not stop writing, so don't worry I will finish this story if it is the last thing I do haha**

 **Anyway hope you guys enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter thirty-three

Emma, Regina and Snow collectively let out a sigh of relief as the random ship they had 'commandeered' from the local harbour, touched down upon the waters of Storybrooke.

The group began to disembark, followed by the entirety of the camp that had ultimately decided that a home infested with ogres was not a very good home, but the three royals were met with a pacing Charming with Ruby standing close by.

He looked up and for a moment broke into a huge smile as he saw his wife and daughter, running forward he pulled them both into a fierce hug.

"I missed you so much," he said into his wife's hair. And then he pulled back and ran a finger across Emma's cheek, and he said shakily, "Cora said that you were dead."

Emma smiled slightly as she leaned into her father's hand, "it takes a lot more than a dagger to stop me."

David let out a small laugh and pulled her in for another hug, Emma smiled brightly, before she furrowed her brow, "where is Henry?"

David pulled back with a pained expression on his face, and shook his head, words seemed to fail him.

Regina stepped forward angrily and addressed the prince. "where is my son?"

David didn't seem to take the anger very well as his face began to turn red, "he is not-"

"David!" Emma and Snow shouted at the same time.

Regina simply pushed past what he had begun to say; after all she had already been through this once, "where is Henry?"

"I don't know," he finally admitted.

Regina clenched her fists and said, "and why haven't you been looking for him?"

Emma looked around, for the first time noticing that they had an audience.

"Maybe we should do this somewhere more private," she whispered.

The rest of the group seemed to have the same realisation, and Charming replied, "you know we don't have any extra room for these people."

Regina put her head in her hands, unable to believe that she had put her town in the hands of this idiot once again, and at the same time her mind was working over time thinking about Henry. She was pretty sure that she knew who had him and was determined to get him back as soon as possible.

"Miss Lucas, can you take these people to Town Hall, there are in fact spare residences that they can be assigned to by my assistant."

Ruby opened her mouth to protest, but much her husband's shock Snow held up her hand and said, "please just do it Rubes."

The werewolf just nodded and led the way. Once the refugees were down the jetty, Regina turned back to the prince, "where is my son?"

"I told you, I don't know," he defended.

Emma held up both hands to placate the pair and said, "just tell us what happened."

David looked at his daughter with a small smile, and explained, "Cora kidnapped him, I have been looking for him non-stop, but to be honest I don't really know my way around," he finished with narrowed eyes towards Regina.

Regina rolled her eyes, and ground her teeth. "let me guess, the wolf couldn't sniff him out."

"What did you expect me to do?!" David shouted.

"Protect your grandson," she returned.

"I tried, but not a lot can stop your sadistic mother!" David retorted,

Emma sighed and put her head in her hands and snapped. "shut up!" she shouted.

Silence fell over the group and they all turned towards the female blonde.

"Arguing is not going to help us find our son," she said to Regina, and then turning on her father she said, "stop trying to justify losing him and help us find him."

They each nodded regrettably once they had realised that Emma's words made sense, and Snow piped up, "what would Cora want with Henry?"

"All she has ever wanted was to make me more powerful," Regina pondered, and then her eyes widened, "and she believes that love is weakness."

Emma paled, "she wouldn't."

"She stabbed you," Regina reminded her.

"But he's just a kid."

"Daniel was only seventeen," Regina sighed, small tears pricking at the corner of her eyes at the thought of what her mother could do to Henry.

Emma swallowed hard, she had expected Cora to be causing some kind of crisis, but this didn't even cross her mind.

"Do you have a plan?" she asked.

"Locator spell?" Regina suggested.

Snow nodded vigorously, and Charming looked at her incredulously, "it's effective," she whispered.

"It's magic," he whispered back.

"That's not always a bad thing."

David just shook his head seeming to have lost his ability to talk through his shock.

"Is Gold back yet?" Regina sighed.

"Not yet," David replied.

Regina just blew out a breath and pulled out her phone, the recipient answered after a few calls, "Regina?" the sheriff asked.

"I need you to get me a locator spell from the pawn shop."

Graham just raised his eyebrow, "why?"

"To find Henry...please Graham."

"Okay I'm on it," he said after a moment.

Regina began to walk away, and Emma called, "where are you going?"

"To get something of Henry's, are you and the idiots coming?"

Despite the situation, Emma let out a small laugh and followed her girlfriend, closely followed by her exasperated parents.

* * *

"Whatever you're planning, you won't win," Henry said defiantly.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Cora sighed; as she snapped shut another book.

"My mom and Emma will find me."

"Emma is dead," she said dismissively.

Henry swallowed hard and shook his head, he refused to believe it, there was no way that the blonde woman he had treated so badly could be gone; especially not since he never got to reconcile with her.

"No, you're lying," he cried.

"I can assure you, it would take a miracle to save her."

"Like true love?" he smiled triumphantly.

Cora's jaw tightened, she refused to believe that Regina's true love could be that _woman,_ she would not allow her daughter to settle for anything less than ultimate power, even if she believed that she found her 'happy ending'.

"True love is a child's idea of magic."

Henry was about to retort, but he was interrupted by another voice, "then it's very effective."

Cora looked up angrily to see Emma smiling cockily at her with Regina standing next to her, "hello Cora," Emma smirked.

Cora clenched her fists and said, "how?"

"You really should learn to listen to Henry, he's always right," Emma replied which earned her a small chuckle from the tied up boy.

After a moment, Cora seemed to recompose herself, and sighed, "regardless, you won't be able to stop my plan."

"Which is?" Regina asked.

Cora smirked at her daughter, and Henry's eyes widened as he heard a hint of fear in her voice, he was always so sure that there was nothing that his mother was afraid of.

"It's simple, I don't hurt my dear grandson and you drink this," she replied as she held up a phial of green liquid.

"And why should I trust you?" Regina laughed bitterly.

"Because I have drawn up a contract all you have to do is sign it and _I_ won't be able to hurt a soul in this horrid town."

"You stabbed Emma," Regina replied indignantly.

"It was a simple over reaction. My dear girl, I haven't seen you in decades and then I found out that you have made all the wrong life choices. I'm simply trying to get my daughter back on track," she said evenly.

"By kidnapping her son!" Emma laughed with narrowed eyes.

Regina looked at Henry, she saw no way of getting him safely out, and she knew that even if she did, her mother could be very relentless when she wanted to.

Grabbing the piece of paper that Cora was holding out she began to read it.

"You cannot seriously be considering this," Emma whispered.

"We have no choice," she replied as she got to the last line, and sighed, "you have to let Emma and Henry leave unharmed from this vault."

Cora just nodded and handed her daughter a pen, but Emma grabbed her arm.

"There has to be another way."

Regina just smiled at the optimistic saviour, and leaned up to place a soft kiss on her lips, in a barely audible whisper she said, "whatever happens, I'm sure you'll save me like you always do."

Emma sighed as Regina moved away from her, and downed the offered potion, Cora's grimace at the scene morphed into a maniacal grin.

Waving her hands the ropes on Henry's wrists and legs disappeared and he jumped out of the chair towards Regina, "Mom!" he smiled.

Regina furrowed her brow, clear confusion upon her face as the potion coursed through her body.

Henry stopped short of hugging her, and said again fearfully, "mom?"

Regina shook her head, and blinked a few times before she seemed to regain control of her senses.

"Miss Swan, I believe your son wants you."

Emma and Henry shared a look of shock, and Emma rounded on Cora, "what was that?"

"I simply took the memories that were interfering with her happy ending," she whispered mockingly, before she waved her hand and poofed the pair of them to safety as she had promised.

* * *

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter thirty-four

"What happened?" Snow asked in shock as Henry and Emma each materialised in the apartment. Since Regina had suggested that all four of them didn't need to go, she had been pacing with her husband a few steps behind her.

Charming ran forward without waiting for an answer and hugged his grandson, "I'm sorry Henry."

Henry nodded listlessly, still trying to work through his mother's words, _she knew who I am, but she doesn't know I'm her son,_ he realised.

Emma swallowed hard and finally answered her mother's question, "Cora made Regina drink a potion in exchange for promising not to hurt anyone in town."

"What was the potion?"

"I think it was a memory potion, but that would make no sense," Emma said almost to herself.

"Why would it make no sense?" Snow asked with a furrowed brow.

"Because she knew who we are, but it was like she didn't know her connection to us. Can a potion rewrite someone's memories?" Emma asked.

Snow simply shrugged, and Charming looked down at his phone that had just buzzed, "I think I have someone that may be able to answer that question."

Emma furrowed her brow, and he explained, "Gold's back."

* * *

Regina blinked a few times as she tried to get her bearings back, she couldn't help the feeling that something was off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Why were they in my vault?" she asked after a moment.

Cora smiled kindly at her, and answered, "the boy was exploring and his mother simply came to find him."

Regina nodded, from what she remembered of the boy that the saviour had brought to town with her that certainly sounded like something he would do.

Cora walked over to her daughter, and guided her over to the seat that Henry was just tied up to, "you seem disorientated," she noted.

Regina tried blinking again as she took a seat, "I think I may just be tired," she admitted.

Cora waved her hand and brought them to the mansion that she had discovered as her daughter's home on her first walk around this town.

Regina looked around the room a few times, before she scrambled past her mother. She felt an indescribable draw towards one of the rooms across the hall. She took a deep breath, before she opened the door, and she let out a ragged breath as she saw that the room was empty except the spare bed. Cora came up behind her and placed her hands on her shoulders, and began to guide her again.

"I think you may be fatigued my dear girl, come and get some sleep."

Regina just nodded and allowed herself to be walked towards her bedroom.

* * *

Emma took a deep breath as she opened the door to the diner. Granny had agreed to allow the reunion to happen on neutral ground, mostly because she had ample alcohol to offer in the aftermath.

Henry clung to her arm, with Charming and Snow not far behind. Meeting his father was not something that he was prepared for, he hadn't exactly had time to think about it. Frankly, he still couldn't help but feel that it wasn't something that they should be focusing on. But then again, if they wanted Gold's help, it was something that he would have to do.

"Emma?" Neal breathed, as he scrambled out of the booth, where he seemed to have been nursing a glass of some clear liquid.

Emma quickly held out her hand before he could touch her, even though it was completely illogical, she felt as if she were betraying Regina by just being near this man.

"I just need to talk to Gold about something, and you can talk to Henry when you're sober."

Neal looked over Emma's shoulder to see the hiding ten-year-old and he swallowed hard, _he does look like me,_ he reasoned.

"Can I have breakfast with the two of you?"

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. This was not exactly how she had imagined her return from the Enchanted Forest, at least last time she had gotten some rest.

"Maybe," she sighed, she looked at the boy, and quickly added, "only if Henry wants to."

Neal nodded, though Emma noted his clenched jaw. _This is not something that I want to deal with yet,_ she internally sighed.

Emma motioned for her parents to watch Henry, and walked over to the bar where the Dark One was seated.

"How can I help you Miss Swan?" he asked without looking at her.

"Cora is in town," she replied without pretence.

Gold's eyes widened and he turned to look at her, seemingly to make sure that she was being serious.

"What has she done?" he choked out, and the blonde furrowed her brow at how flustered the man seemed to have become.

"She forced Regina to drink this potion, can a potion rewrite memories?"

Gold nodded slowly as he tried to figure out exactly what potion she would have used, "what did she forget?"

"That she adopted Henry."

Gold just smirked, "that is rather brilliant." Emma looked at him angrily, and he added, "not for you of course."

"Is there any way to reverse it?"

Gold pondered this for a moment, and replied, "there is a counter potion, but she would have to take it willingly. Young Henry is the linchpin of her redemption, so that may not be easily done."

Emma sighed in frustration, "just make the potion and let me worry about the second part."

Gold raised his eyebrow and he asked, "and why would I do that?"

"For your grandson, meaning you will expect nothing in return," she replied with clenched fist.

Gold looked over to Henry, who seemed to be making awkward small talk with Neal, and he relented, "very well, you can collect it in the morning. In the meantime I suggest you rest, even the powerful saviour needs her beauty sleep," he chuckled as he stood from his stool and walked towards his son.

 _There is no way I'm getting any sleep,_ the blonde thought.

* * *

 **A/N So I decided to post twice as a thank you for all the kind reviews and an apology for my over reaction haha, I hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **Also the competition one-shots are both up now, they're called 'Little Cupid' (for jehc) and 'You Have One New Message' (for polybi) please feel free to check them out if you want to XD**

 **How often would you guys like to see these competitions? Also if you have any OUAT trivia questions that are more difficult then please pm me (please don't put it in a review), if I use your question you'll get a one-shot alongside the winners of the next competition XD And just to let you guys know, I'm not comfortable writing smut (must be a side effect of being British haha) so if you do win I would appreciate if you didn't ask for anything explicit**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter thirty-five

 _Dear Neal_

 _I know that there is probably no way that you'll believe what I am about to write, so please give me the benefit of the doubt._

 _Eleven years ago, I found out that I was pregnant in prison, but I just felt too betrayed to even try and tell you, so I gave him up for adoption._

 _Henry came to find me a couple days ago and he brought me to Storybrooke._

 _I understand why you felt that you couldn't tell me about the curse, I probably would have dumped you and written you off as crazy. But the point is, that I believe now, (which is a very long story that I don't feel like putting down on paper)._

 _I need you to come back to Storybrooke with your father, so that you can meet your son._

 _I hope to see you soon_

 _Emma Swan_

Neal put his head in his hands as he read the letter for the tenth time. He was getting the feeling that Emma didn't actually want him here and that it had something to do with one of his father's deals.

He sat in the diner at 8.30 am waiting for the pair to appear. He was beyond nervous.

Emma was clearly a completely different person, something that he honestly couldn't understand. He knew that she believed now, but it just seemed odd that she could possibly believe in a matter of days as her letter had suggested. The Emma that he knew would have taken at least a year to believe and even then something major would have had to happen.

 _But do I really know Emma anymore?_ he sighed internally.

"Hey," an awkward voice interrupted his thoughts.

Neal looked up in shock at Henry, "where's Emma?"

"She went to collect something from Mr. Gold."

Neal nodded, and noticed Emma's parents in the adjacent booth, they each offered him an awkward wave, which he returned, and then looked back at his son.

"So..." he began.

Henry gave him a small smile, and slid into the booth.

Silence fell over the two of them , and Neal eventually swallowed hard and put out his hand, "Neal Cassidy."

Henry let out a small laugh, and took his hand, "Henry Mills."

Neal furrowed his brow, "Mills?"

"Regina Mills adopted me."

Neal nodded trying to think who that was, but he was coming up blank, and silence fell over them.

Ruby walked over to the pair, hearing just how painfully the conversation was going and asked, "What can I get you guys?"

"A coffee and toast and..."

"The usual please," Henry smiled up at the wolf.

"Glad to see you're okay Henry," Ruby commented and with that she sauntered over to the counter.

"Why wouldn't you be okay?" Neal asked with raised eyebrows.

"Err..." Henry began; he wasn't exactly comfortable telling him everything just yet, so he just played it down, "it doesn't matter, my moms saved me."

Neal's eyes widened, "moms?"

Henry ran his hand across his face, silently cursing his blonde mother for abandoning him, "yeah...two moms."

"So...they're together."

Henry nodded and Neal just sat stunned for a few moments, before he added, "I thought Emma only came to town a few days ago."

"Yeah, in this timeline," Henry laughed, before he clamped his hand over his mouth.

"What?" Neal laughed nervously.

"They kind of travelled back in time and changed everything," he admitted.

Neal fell back in his chair, he was sure that couldn't be true, but then again it did explain why Emma was so different.

"And why would they do that?"

"They didn't do on purpose," Henry chuckled, "it was you know...magic."

Neal sighed, "yes, I know magic very well."

Silence fell over them again, and Neal resolved to talk to Emma about all of this. Ten silent minutes passed and Ruby placed two plates in front of them, and they each began to eat half-heartedly.

Ruby walked over to the Charmings and whispered, "I don't think it's going well."

Snow nodded in agreement, "they just need more time."

"With the rate it's moving right now, I don't think there's enough time in the world," Ruby replied, which caused each of them to sigh.

* * *

The bell rang and Gold rolled his eyes.

"Very prompt aren't we?" he commented.

"Just give me the potion, Gold," Emma replied as she strode to the counter.

"More like your dear girlfriend every day, Miss Swan, perhaps that is something you should watch out for," he quipped while reaching under the counter.

Emma just ignored him and held out her hand, upon which he placed a phial of purple liquid.

"You know that can't trick her into drinking it, so if you were planning on having the wolf slip it into her morning coffee, I would advise against it. I will not be making another one for free."

Emma set her jaw, unwilling to admit that was exactly what she had planned to do, she asked, "then what do you suggest?"

"Perhaps you should first focus on Cora?"

Emma furrowed her brow at the hopeful inflection in his voice, "and what do you want me to do to her?"

"I believe the mayor wished to give her mother her heart," he replied casually.

"And why would that help?"

"Her mother can be quite the manipulator, but with her heart I am sure that she would not be able to rope her daughter into whatever she is planning."

Emma thought about this for a moment, and realised that it actually made perfect sense, but she couldn't help but wonder why it would be Gold's first suggestion though.

"Is there something about you and Cora that you're not telling me?" Emma asked with a tilted head.

Gold's eyes widened, before he shook his head, "no, and even if there was, it would be _my_ business."

Emma just nodded sceptically and began to walk away.

"Oh, and Miss Swan," Emma turned around, and Gold continued, "do try not to break my son's heart."

Emma sighed and nodded. She had considered the possibility that without Tamara around, Neal may actually try and explore his feelings, but she also knew beyond a doubt that she no longer loved him in that way. She also knew that she would rather be trying to help her girlfriend then having to deal with a love triangle. "I will try not to," she replied, knowing it was all down to Neal how their relationship would play out.

* * *

 **A/N Sorry about the lack of Regina, I thought Neal deserved at least a chapter haha**

 **I'm planning to do the next competition on chapter 40, so if you have any questions that I can use, please feel free to pm me :)**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :)**


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter thirty-six

"Regina, wake up," Cora tried to say gently, though by most people's standards it still came out rather rough.  
Regina opened her eyes slowly. She was trying to make sense of the dream she had the night before. She couldn't exactly remember what it was about, but she had the distinct feeling that she was honestly happy in it. Despite her best efforts, the last time she remembered being truly happy was with Daniel. The curse had provided her with amusement for a few weeks, and then it had just been twenty eight years of the same routine over and over again. The only break she had gotten was when the saviour had come to town with her son, she furrowed her brow as she was sure that couldn't be right. According to her memory, the saviour had broken the curse as soon as she crossed the town line, and she was sure that wasn't what happened, but it was what her memories were telling her. She also remembered her mother coming to town as soon as the curse was broken and saving her from a mob that was trying to kill her, but she still felt unexplainably uncomfortable with the idea of her mother doing that.

The mayor simply shook her head, and turned towards her mother, offering her a small smile.

"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked.

Regina narrowed her eyes for a moment, but a part of her knew that she was being irrational, she had no idea why she should have to question her own memories.

"Better," she lied, as she threw the sheet back, and began to stand up.

"I made you breakfast."

Regina paused on her way to the bathroom and rounded on her mother, "what do you want from me?"

"I simply missed you, darling, is it really strange for a mother to be worried?" she asked, feigning hurt.

"It is for you," Regina replied boldly.

Cora raised her eyebrows at her daughter, before an idea occurred to her. Waving her hand behind her back, she created an illusion that she hoped her daughter would fall for.

Approaching her, she began her lie, "I have turned over a new leaf," grabbing her hand, she brought it to her chest, and Regina's eyes widened in shock as she felt the distinct feeling of a beating heart.

"H-how?" she stuttered out.

"Twenty-eight years being frozen in time showed me what I was missing, so I returned my heart before coming to find you."

 _She's lying,_ popped into Regina's head, but she couldn't help but think that she couldn't deny the proof.

Regina smiled hesitantly, and replied, "I'll be down for breakfast as soon as I'm dressed."

Cora returned the smile, and turned to leave her to it, _this is going to be easier than I thought._

* * *

"What are you doing?" Henry sighed as Emma searched for her keys.

"Going to Town Hall," she replied without looking at him.

"Why?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

"To talk to your mom...where are they?" she ground out.

Henry rolled his eyes and jumped off the couch, reaching into the red jacket that she had worn to breakfast, he pulled them out of the pocket.

"You don't need to be nervous," the boy said encouragingly as he placed the keys into her hand.

Emma simply sighed and shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Henry asked, looking thoroughly confused.

Emma thought for a moment, she hadn't actually realised that she was nervous, but now she felt it crash down upon her in full force.

She guessed that it was because of how their relationship had been before. She was sure that Regina would be having strange déjà vu moments just like she had before, but she also knew that it took a lot for her to remember. All she wanted to do when she came back from the Enchanted Forest was take Regina on a date, but now she had to deal with memory loss, Cora and Neal.

Falling back against the door, she put her head in her hands, "I just wanted things to be normal for once."

Henry frowned as he thought back to the book, "what's normal?"

Despite herself, she let out a small laugh. She had been surprisingly unsurprised when Henry showed her his newest book, she was just happy that she wouldn't be constantly pestered for stories from the alternate timeline.

"You've got a point, kid," she replied with a weak smile.

"Just go and get her to drink the potion," Henry replied.

"You say that like she will just drink a potion off someone that she hardly knows."

Henry furrowed his brow, "but she does know you, maybe you just need to kiss her!"

"Not the answer to everything," the blonde chuckled.

Henry thought about it g for a moment, and sighed, "just do something, get her to know you again."

Emma put her hand on the boys shoulder and offered him a smile, "she'll be back to normal before you know it."

* * *

Regina sat at her desk.

Frankly, she was shocked that she was even allowed to go to work without some kind of resistance, but everyone seemed to just leave her alone. What she didn't know was that the Charming's had spent the morning convincing everyone to give her another chance. Snow had even set out points of why Storybrooke was better than the Enchanted Forest, they had even pointed out how much she had changed in the past few days, though they had omitted the part about time travel. The town had agreed tentatively to another chance, though the queen was on some very thin ice with the townspeople, they couldn't deny that she was the only one capable of carrying out the mayoral duties and preventing the town from descending into anarchy.

A knock at the door interrupted her concentration, and she looked up to see the sheriff, "how can I help you, Graham?" she sighed, before she frowned. _Since when am I polite to him?_

"I just need to give you this," he replied, though he seemed to be keeping his distance. He considered Regina a friend, but Regina without her memories meant that he was basically talking to the Evil Queen, a prospect that he wasn't very comfortable with.

Regina took the letter, and her eyebrows were raised, "a letter of resignation?"

Graham nodded, "Emma will be interim sheriff before you fill the position."

Regina closed her eyes in frustration as she thought; _I don't need to find another sheriff then._ Regina pinched the bridge of her nose, she felt as if she had two different versions of herself battling within her mind and she couldn't help the feeling that it had something to do with her mother.

"Is that all?" she asked.

Graham inspected her for a moment, there was actually something that he really wanted to talk to her about, but he knew now wasn't the time for dating advice.

Nodding, he made to walk away, only for a knock at the door to stop him.

Regina just nodded, and Graham opened it to be met with his replacement, Graham mouthed 'what are you doing?' to which she just shrugged and walked past him. The hunter just sighed, and continued on his way out.

"Miss Swan?" Regina asked cautiously. She remembered very little about the saviour, other than the fact that she had broken the curse, but she still felt drawn to her.

Emma smiled broadly at the other woman, which seemed to shock her, and her smile instantly fell into a frown.

"I just came to see how you are?"

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Regina asked with raised eyebrows.

Emma winced, and desperately hoped that her next words would line up with her new memories, "you know...the curse breaking..."

Regina just waved her hand dismissively, "it was bound to happen eventually," and then her eyes widened, _why am I okay with it?_

The mayor ran her hand across her face, and she stood up, deciding that she needed more sleep.

"Is that all sheriff?"

Emma smirked, she was secretly happy that she was sheriff again, she just wished that it had happened in this way in the other timeline.

"I came to give you these forms," she lied, she knew that the potion wouldn't work yet. She and Henry had discussed at length that they needed to get Regina to trust her, so she was determined to be as annoying as possible and hope that the woman would fall in love with her again.

Regina took them, and shook her head, "I can't read these, you'll have to do them again."

Emma smiled again, and Regina felt very unsettled by the familiarity the saviour seemed to feel.

"Of course your majesty," she laughed, "Your wish is my command."

The blonde walked out of her office, hoping that she had laid the ground work, and Regina just fell back into her chair feelings stunned at how much she had enjoyed that short conversation.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter thirty-seven

-One week later-

The door to the sheriff's station slammed open, and Emma couldn't even try and hide the smirk that began to play across her lips. A part of her was beginning to wonder whether her amnesiac girlfriend might genuinely hate her by the time Operation SwanQueen (Henry's idea) was over.

Leaning back in her chair, she deliberately put her legs on the desk, and continued throwing crumpled pieces of paper into the bin, more often than not missing.

The clicking heels sounded around the corner, and Emma feigned disinterest as the mayor appeared.

"Are you actually a child?" the woman seethed as she inspected the mess the station was in.

"Some people find it endearing, madam mayor," Emma smiled.

Regina simply rolled her eyes, she had spent the last week almost constantly dealing with this woman, though only for minutes at a time. Every time they almost talked for too long, her mother seemed to interrupt, something she was sure she should question, but she simply didn't have the brain space for anymore questions. Everything around this town just seemed so strange. She had received tentative smiles from both Snow and Charming, and when she sat in Granny's she would often turn to find the saviour's son stealing glances at her.

"I can't imagine who?" she sneered, holding up her hand she stopped the sheriff from trying to reply, "I need the forms that you were supposed to bring to my office this morning."

Emma let her legs fall off the desk, and reached into a draw pulling out a set of papers that were all pristinely ordered.

Regina eyebrows raised high as she was handed what she asked for, and began looking through them in disbelief.

"You actually did your work?"

"You asked me too," Emma replied with a smile.

"I also asked you to bring them to my office, I'm missing lunch because of you, Miss Swan," she quipped.

"If I had come to your office at nine then you would have been in a meeting and I would have had to give them to your assistant. This way I get to talk to you," she said charmingly.

Regina narrowed her eyes at the blonde, though she was desperately trying not to agree with her that it was an excellent plan.

Turning on her heels, the mayor made to leave.

"Regina, hang on," Emma ran forward. She had been craving Cora-less time with her girlfriend all week, and she was going to milk it for all it was worth. "I can't let you miss lunch for me, let me buy you some."

Regina turned and looked at the blonde for a moment, an unexplained yearning ignited within her, and she decided that she needed to get as far away as possible.

"That won't be necessary," she replied shortly.

Emma sighed, and watched her true love leave, _this operation is taking way too long,_ she thought while falling into her chair.

* * *

-One week later-

Regina stood in the kitchen brewing some coffee.

As she did most mornings, she tried to work through every confusing aspect of her memories.

Most specifically, she thought about Emma and her son, she couldn't help but feel the need to be near them. Each time these thoughts began to consume her, she would just shake her head and tell herself that she was being absolutely irrational, and that there was no basis to these feelings. That was until she was near the sheriff, and she wanted to do was spend forever talking to her (among other things that she refused to acknowledge). Each time she had to tear herself away from the woman's presence and she really wished that she knew why.

"Regina," a voice interrupted her reverie.

Said woman looked up to see her mother approaching with a smile that she didn't know was fake. She had to admit that it was nice having her mother around, even if she was almost constantly questioning whether her mental struggles had something to do with her.

"Good morning," she replied, "coffee?"

Cora inspected the machine with distaste, she wasn't exactly used to the technology of this world yet, and though she would never admit it, she did find some of it rather ominous.

"No thank you, dear," she answered as she took a seat at the counter, "I was thinking that maybe we could go out for breakfast."

Regina nodded in agreement after checking her watch.

Cora still sensed her daughter's mistrust in her; she was just happy that she had always been a patient woman, for what she planned, she had to have her daughter's complete and unwavering trust, and she knew exactly who was getting in the way of that.

* * *

"Excuse me," Regina smiled, as she stood and made her way to the rest room.

The moment that her back was turned, Cora's smile dropped and her harsh gaze fell on the woman who had been staring distastefully at her for the whole meal.

Once Regina was out of sight, Emma stalked over to the booth giving the woman a hard stare.

"Persistent, aren't we dear?" Cora chuckled, as she began to organise the condiments.

"It's genetic," Emma sneered, "why are you doing this to her?"

Cora raised an eyebrow at the blonde, and abandoned the organisation, "I've made her happy."

"No, you've made her lonely."

"Her or you?" Cora sneered.

"Both of us," Emma replied, with a tightened jaw, "you can't possibly think that she was ever happy as the Evil Queen."

"Happiness is irrelevant," the Queen of Hearts replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Of course a heartless bitch like you would-"

"Miss Swan?"

Emma looked up at the mayor, feeling like a schoolchild caught breaking the rules, she offered the woman a smile.

"Hey Regina," she tried.

Regina maintained her stone cold expression, she wasn't exactly sure why the sheriff's words cut deep, maybe because they pointed out a blatant lie, that she refused to acknowledge.

"I'm sure my mother doesn't appreciate being ambushed," she replied coldly.

Cora nodded with a fake sad expression, and Emma felt the urge to strangle her.

Emma quickly stood from Regina's seat, Cora's triumphant smile burning into her.

The sheriff wanted to slap it off her, but instead decided to take a different tactic.

Walking the few steps to the mayor, she leaned to her ear and whispered, "please accept my apology your majesty."

The blonde sauntered away.

A shiver ran down the brunette's spine and she blinked a few times, her mother clearing her throat bringing her back to earth.

Regina swallowed hard and took her seat, "please ignore her mother, that woman is an imbecile."

Cora looked over the counter where Emma was smirking at her, and Cora nodded, "indeed she is."

* * *

 **A/N Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I just didn't feel like writing much**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please feel free to let me know what you thought of it :)**


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter thirty-eight

Regina typed away at her laptop, though she wasn't really paying attention to the budget. After all these years she was sure that she could do it in her sleep, so it wasn't like it mattered.

Instead, she was thinking about the blonde.

Her mother had suggested that she should find a new sheriff soon so that she could stop her dealings with the woman, but Regina didn't want to if she was being completely honest. She knew the sheriff was annoying, but she was beginning to find it endearing, which frankly worried her.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a phone call.

Furrowing her brow, since she knew it couldn't be her mother who hadn't stopped calling her phone 'an enchanted box', she saw the caller ID said 'School."

"Hello?" she asked, clearly confused.

She was met with an automated message, 'your son or daughter has been sent to the principal's office and he requests your attendance as soon as possible.'

The message cut off, and Regina stared at her phone blankly for a moment. Shaking her head, she chalked it up to a mistake and began typing again, only to stop a few moments later. She felt something nagging at her to go to the school, and she decided to tell them herself that there was some kind of misunderstanding, though she knew that she could just call them, she just grabbed her coat and made her way to her car.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Regina walked into reception, and before she could talk, she was interrupted.

"Ah, mayor Mills," the principal greeted as he grabbed a message from the receptionist, "I'm sorry for the short notice but you understand the urgency with matters like these."

Regina was about to reply, a part of her realising that this man had once been Snow's tutor, causing her anger to flair up slightly, but he simply walked to his office expecting her to follow.

Regina just shook her head, and followed, determined to know what was going on, she decided to do something about the principal's rudeness later.

Walking in, she saw the saviour's son sitting with his arms crossed looking very hard done by.

Henry looked up, expecting to see Emma, but his eyebrows shot up when he saw his mother. For a moment he considered whether she remembered just in time to ground him, but her clear confusion would beg a differ.

"Mo-mayor Mills?" he asked, hoping the principal would notice.

The principal furrowed his brow, "Henry why did you call your-"

The door suddenly burst open to reveal a very out of breath sheriff, "can I talk to you?" she asked, only furthering the man's confusion.

Emma dragged him out before he could utter another word and slammed the door closed.

Regina looked down at the little brunette, who offered her a shy awkward smile. He hadn't actually talked to her since it had happened, and he was desperately trying not to just hug her and ruin the whole operation.

"What is going on?" she asked somewhat harshly, though it was slightly toned down.

"Clerical error?" the boy offered, which only caused her to narrow her eyes.

"But then why did he-"

"He's an idiot," Henry replied with a laugh, and Regina couldn't help but notice that his inflections seemed to be the same as hers. _He not at all like his mother,_ she thought, but just shook her head and tried to focus.

"How can he think that I'm your mother?" Regina asked.

Henry's breath hitched at her words, and he kept repeating in his head, _she doesn't remember,_ "I'm new in town, remember? He doesn't know who my mother is."

"I'm not new in town," she replied, easily poking a whole in his logic, "I'm also sure that he would know all about the saviour who broke the curse," she continued somewhat bitterly.

Henry desperately tried to think of a retort, but there was no way he could outsmart his mother, "he's just that much of an idiot," he lied unconvincingly.

A moment of silence passed, Regina with clear look of disbelief, the moment passed as the door opened, the sheriff and principal re-entering.

The principal looked suitably terrified as he took his seat and cleared his throat. He began to look through his desk and brought out a budget report, "for you," he said.

Regina took the paper off him with a raised eyebrow and inspected it.

"There seems to have been a mistake," he continued, "it appears as if the messages for you and sheriff Swan got mixed up."

Regina nodded slowly, knowing it didn't make complete sense, but she was beginning to get a headache and didn't really feel like questioning her own memories at the moment, "don't let it happen again," she said without looking at anyone in the room, and quickly walking out as fast as her heels would take her.

Emma and Henry watched her go, each with a longing look, before their expressions snapped back to him.

"What is wrong with you?" Henry asked.

"Henry!" Emma tried to scold, though it didn't have the same impact as Regina.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," the man defended, "besides I am not the one who broke the rules young man."

Emma blinked a few times, finally realising why she was here in the first place, her mother had text her that she had sent Henry to the principal's office. Clearly she had forgotten to switch Henry's contact information, _Regina would have remembered,_ she thought bitterly.

"What did he do?" Emma asked through gritted teeth, she didn't think she had the energy for another problem, but the universe didn't seem to care.

"He punched Hansel," he explained.

Emma raised her eyebrows at her son, who just sank into his chair.

"Why?" she managed to ask.

"He called mom the Evil Queen," the boy mumbled.

Emma put her head in her hands, but part of her was trying not to grin that he was defending his mother.

"That doesn't mean that you can hit him."

"He kept saying it though, right to me. I told him to shut up but he wouldn't stop, he said-" Henry stopped as tears began to fall down his face.

Emma looked at the principal who seemed surprised that he was actually upset, _he is a pretty shit principal,_ Emma thought and turned to him, "can we have a moment."

The man just shrugged and left his office, deciding that he had enough Swan-Mills drama for the day.

"What did he say?" Emma asked softly.

"He said that there was no way that she was a good mother, and I'm unlucky that she woke up from the sleeping curse."

Emma resisted the urge to say that he was right for punching him, knowing if she did Regina would probably smack her, but it did take all of her will power. "You should have just told me," she said softly as she wiped a few of his tears.

The boy swatted her hand away slightly, before he realised what he had done, he quickly jumped out of the chair and hugged the blonde. Henry was definitely determined to not lose anymore parents, Neal was still a work in progress though.

"I'm sorry," he said against her shoulder.

Emma stroked his hair and shushed him softly, "it's okay, what's your punishment?"

"I have to say I'm sorry and I have Saturday detention," he sniffled.

Emma nodded, "and you're grounded for a week."

Henry pulled away with a shocked expression.

"You're not going to talk me out of it kid, you broke the rules," she laughed.

Henry shook his head, "it's not that...it's just..."

Emma's eyes widened, "is it not enough?"

Henry nodded and Emma let out a puff of air, "I've never grounded you."

The boy just smirked and fell back into the hug and sniffled, "mom would probably ground me for two week."

"Two weeks it is then," Emma laughed.

 **A/N So since the last chapter I hit 500 followers (it's now 503 haha) I just wanted to say a massive thank you and I hope you enjoyed the chapter XD**

 **Please feel free to review and let me know what you think :)**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter thirty-nine

Regina brought the tumbler to her lips, and allowed the scotch to burn down her throat.

She had finally had enough! She just wished that someone would tell her what was going on. The principal seemed so sure that Henry was her son, and if she was honest she was questioning why the saviour would name her son after her father, _just a coincidence,_ she told herself.

"Are you okay, dear?" her mother asked, "you do know that it's lunch time."

Regina looked up at her mother with narrowed eyes, she could no longer deny the facts, and she was determined to find out what her mother had done to her, "I need it," she replied, as she refilled the tumbler.

Cora furrowed her brow and walked over to her daughter, Regina could almost believe that she cared, but she was beginning to question everything her mother did.

Cora took the tumbler out of her hands and placed it on the table, causing Regina to just fall onto the sofa petulantly, making Cora raise her eyebrow at her daughter.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

Regina rolled her eyes and sighed, "everything in this town makes no sense."

"I'm afraid that I have no idea to which you are referring, dear."

"I can tell you're lying," Regina slurred.

Her mother felt her frustration rise, she knew who was to blame for this, "you can't honestly be allowing the sheriff to influence you."

Regina remained silent for a few moments, and she considered just how ridiculous this all was, "yes, actually."

Cora clenched her jaw, she knew that there was no way that she could try and take out the saviour now without her daughter turning against her, so she decided to take a different tact.

"And why is that?"

Regina shook her head and frowned.

"Please believe me child. She is not on your side, you shouldn't trust her," she lied.

"She has done nothing to make me believe that she wants to hurt me," Regina said almost to herself.

"It's called manipulation Regina."

"Oh, I know," she laughed bitterly as she fell against the couch, "I am certainly no stranger to it."

Cora closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was about to reply before she heard soft even breathing. Turning she saw Regina had fallen asleep, clearly having drunk too much. She looked at a blanket draped on the back of the couch. She was about to just leave, but rolled her eyes and brought the blanket over her daughter, knowing it would probably help her case later.

* * *

Emma violently threw balls of paper into the bin. This time they each went in, now it didn't make her feel any better.

"That won't bring her memory back dearie," a chuckle came, and Emma just scowled at the pawn shop owner who had managed to sneak up on her.

"Well you haven't exactly been all that helpful," she sneered as a ball sailed across his face and into the bin.

The man raised his eyebrow at the petulant saviour, "I believe I gave you the potion."

"Because that has actually helped," she replied sardonically finally dropping her legs from the desk and standing to face him, "why are you here, Gold?"

"To offer an alternative," he answered as he held up a phial of blue liquid.

"And what is the difference?" Emma asked, some of her snark falling away.

"This doesn't have to be taken willingly," he paused for a moment and continued, "Belle found it in a older book, I thought you would be interested."

Emma reached for it, before instantly taking it back, "what's the catch."

"Shall we say you owe me one?" he smirked.

Emma considered this for a moment and decided that she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

"Thank you," she finally said.

* * *

Emma sat in a booth at the diner, hoping she had timed this right.

To her surprise the mayor had instantly agreed to coffee, but if she came late and it went cold she would have just wasted the potion.

Her worry melted away as the bell dinged and Regina walked in exactly on time. She smiled broadly at the approaching brunette.

Regina was determined to find out the truth and for some inexplicable reason, she trusted this woman. So she had eagerly accepted time with the puzzling blonde to discuss her potential memory issues.

Taking her seat, silence reigned over the pair until Emma said a small "hey."

Regina cocked her eyebrow which almost caused the blonde to leap across the table and kiss her, but she managed to control herself, instead slightly stuttering, "h-how are you?"

Regina considered the question for a moment, and answered honestly, "confused."

Emma swallowed hard and nodded, "why is that?"

"Everything seems to contradict my memories, a prospect that is rather unpleasant, let me assure you, Miss Swan."

The blonde actively tried not to smile, and pushed the coffee towards her. Regina picked it up without a second thought and brought it to her lips.

Emma watched expectantly as Regina's expression changed as the potion flowed down her throat, her eyes glazed over for a moment as memories began to return.

 _-"What the hell are you doing?" "Picking apples."_

 _\- "Sister, you have no idea what I am capable of."_

 _-"I don't care what happens to you."_

Regina blinked a few times, the colour draining from her face.

"Regina?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

She made to reach across and take her hand, but the older woman yanked it away and stood.

"What was that?" she breathed.

"It was a memory potion," Emma said quickly, hoping that this was all one big misunderstanding, "I was trying to make you remember your happy ending."

"It doesn't seem very happy to me," Regina sneered.

"What?" Emma squeaked.

"Did you honestly believe that I would allow you to distort my daughter's memories with your potion, I switched it with one that would show her the truth," Cora interjected from the counter, walking over to Regina she put her hand on her shoulder, and added in a whisper that the other brunette couldn't hear, "dearie."

Emma narrowed her eyes, "you tricked me," she shouted.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, you're just mad that I showed her the truth," Cora tutted as she patted her shell shocked daughter's shoulder.

She turned pulling Regina with her, who was clearly at a loss for words.

Emma stood shaking for a moment, before her anger exploded, "you bitch!" she shouted.

Opening her palm, a fire ball appeared and without a second thought she hurled it at the witch.

Regina turned and held up her palm, instantly Emma's fire ball dissipated.

Walking over to the blonde, she swallowed hard and said, "stay away from me, your replacement will be found as soon as possible."

She turned to join her mother at the door, not even looking back as her magic threw the blonde against the wall.

 **A/N I need to thank QueenApples, Just-another-voice-out-here and PerditusFic for their help with this chapter, I wasn't sure so I got a few opinions haha**

 **Also I should be doing another competition on the next chapter, how many winners would you guys like to see in celebration of 500 followers?**

 **And if guys have any trivia questions please pm me and you'll get a one-shot if I use it :)**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed and reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N Hey guys, I saw that a few of you were frustrated with the memory-less Regina, so I thought I would let you guys know that this storyline is going to end in the next chapter :) Anyway I hope you guys enjoy**

Chapter forty

Regina calmly walked into her study, regally taking a seat at her desk, her mother not far behind.

The two hadn't exchanged a single word since the diner, and Regina wasn't sure that she could take an 'I told you so' right now. It was for this reason that she lifted the lid of her laptop, and began to look for any work that thoughts of a certain blonde had prevented her from completing effectively.

As she typed she felt eyes burning intently into her, and without looking up she said, "what do you want?"

Cora tried not to clench her jaw, and just about managed to maintain her soft expression, "I simply wish to ensure that you are okay. Thought I'll never understand your trust in the saviour, I can see that her betrayal hurt you."

Regina ceased her work and closed her eyes, trying to fight off tears. If she were honest she didn't understand why she trusted the woman either, but the thought of her trying to manipulate her hurt more than she could ever explain. _There's just something about that woman,_ she thought.

When she finally opened her eyes, a stray tear managed to escape and track its way down her olive skin, wiping it away quickly, she looked back at her computer screen, only to find it wasn't there anymore. She looked up to see her mother had came over to the desk, her hand upon the laptop she had just closed.

"I tried to warn you about her, dear," she said softly.

Regina took a shaky breath, flashes of the blonde shouting at her running through her mind, she could no longer deny her mother had been correct.

"Okay, you were right," Regina sneered, "what is your point?"

Cora just about managed not to roll her eyes, she would never understand why Regina allowed feelings to affect her so much.

"My point is that I never want anyone to be able to hurt you again."

"Because you have done such a fantastic job of that so far," Regina replied with narrowed eyes, she just wanted to be alone in this moment.

"Do you still not trust me?" Cora asked, looking genuinely offended.

Regina was about to reply 'no', before the word died on her tongue. For a moment she thought that her mother was probably the only person in this town that she could trust, she had been there for her through the past few weeks and had tried to protect her from the saviour.

She stood, and after some hesitation, she hugged the older woman, "I do trust you."

Cora smiled, and brought her arms around her daughter, "so you'll allow me to help you."

Regina pulled away, and nodded with a curious expression.

"What are you planning?"

Cora smirked as she thought _finally,_ and replied, "I wish to make you the most powerful person in this realm."

* * *

The door to the pawn shop flew open as the saviour stormed in.

Gold looked up from the counter with a raised eyebrow, "I do hope you don't break my little bell."

"Shut up!" Emma growled as she approached him.

"Something wrong, sheriff?" he frowned.

"Did you give Cora a potion?"

Gold shook his head, though he didn't seem at all offended by the accusation, "I believe the Queen of Hearts makes quite the apothecary. Typically, when she wants something she will try and get it herself."

Emma deflated as she realised that he was probably right, and put her head in her hands.

"Cora posed as you and gave me an 'alternative potion'," she explained after a few moments.

Gold nodded, _that does sound like her,_ "what did this potion do?"

"It made her remember all of the bad times with me, and then she pretended as if she had switched the potion to show her the truth."

"Always so brilliant," he smirked almost to himself before he registered the blonde's searing look, "can I not admire a good plan?"

"No, what you can do is think of a way to help," Emma gritted out.

"You cannot use young Henry as an excuse every time you want something, sheriff," he sneered.

Emma clenched her fists, and tried to take calming breaths, "then what do you want?"

"Well I suppose I could use some protection," he said as he made his way over to a shelf and pulled a supposedly locked box down.

Placing it on the counter, Emma just stared in confusion as he uttered spells until it finally popped open to reveal nothing inside but dust.

"What is this?" Emma asked with an exasperated sigh.

"An empty box," he quipped, at Emma's reply of an unimpressed expression, he continued, "that once contained my dagger."

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose, "how could Cora steal it?"

"What can I say, Miss Swan, the woman knows me well," he chuckled.

"So you don't care that she plans to control you?"

"What gave you that idea?" he asked.

"You know...she stole your dagger," Emma replied with clear confusion.

"Believe me, she has far bigger plans in store than simply commanding me."

Emma gritted her teeth, she was in no way in the mood for this, she just wanted a way to get Regina back.

"Will you just tell me," she asked angrily.

"Very hostile today aren't we?" he chuckled.

"I will punch you."

Gold raised his eyebrow, deciding to put her out of her misery, "if I know Cora, than I believe that she is planning to make Regina more powerful. And now that she no longer trusts you and doesn't remember her son, there is nothing stopping Cora from having her daughter's complete and utter trust."

"No, she wouldn't," Emma swallowed hard as it finally clicked what he was talking about.

"She most certainly would, after all we all know that Cora would be able to reap the benefits should her daughter become the Dark One."

* * *

 **A/N As promised, there will be another competition, this time there will be four winners as a thank you for 500 followers XD**

 **The question is (Thanks to Hailstorm):**

 **What are the names of every curse featured in the four seasons of Once Upon A Time? There are four, but I'm willing to accept three :)**

 **So PM me the answers, (reviews won't be counted so please don't post the answer there) and the first four will get there one-shots.**


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N Thank you guys for all of the submissions, I have the four winners and the first two one-shots are up, 'We Need To Get Over It' (not actually a one shot anymore haha) and 'Of Love and (Puppy) Loopholes,' so please check them out if you want to.**

* * *

Chapter forty-one

"You're sure?" Snow asked.

Gold nodded, "I'm quite sure, my guess would be that she'll be here at any moment."

"But why would she not want the power herself?" Charming asked with a furrowed brow, while he inspected a sword rack, trying to pick the best one.

Gold rolled his eyes at the prince's indecision, and replied, "Cora probably isn't too fond of the idea of being controlled, controlling her daughter, however..."

The blonde leaning against the counter let out a frustrated sigh.

Snow turned to see Emma staring off into space, and walked over to place a hand on her shoulder, "Cora won't win, sweetheart."

Emma snapped out of her reverie, and nodded in agreement. From a bag on the floor she brought out a wooden box, her mother's eyes widened as she realised what it was.

"Emma..." she tried to warn.

The blonde opened the lid and brought out the pulsing red orb. Emma noticed that there didn't seem to be a speck of darkness in it. _It probably wasn't in her chest long enough,_ Emma thought as she tried not to clench her fist around it.

She continued to stare into it, her father coming over from the counter to stand next to his daughter, "Emma you can't," he said softly.

"Why?" Emma bit out.

"Because it's not the right thing to do," Henry announced.

Emma looked over at the door in shock, seeing Neal standing sheepishly behind the boy. Frankly, the image of his ex-girlfriend clutching a beating heart more than scared him, so he was actively trying to hang back.

"Henry, you were supposed to stay at the diner," Emma sighed, as she turned and placed the heart back into the box.

"Ruby told me what happened earlier," he replied, "did she really throw you against the wall?"

Henry came and stood next to her, looking to her for reassurance, though Emma wasn't sure that she was the best person to get such a thing from, she tried. "Yeah, but..."

Henry offered her a smile, and placed a hand on her arm, being unable to reach her shoulder, "you just need to remind her another way."

Emma furrowed her brow, "I tried..."

Henry shook his head, "true love is the most powerful magic remember?"

Neal interrupted looking outside of the door, "there is like some kind of protection right, there's two very angry women out there?"

Emma nodded dismissively, "yeah, some invisible chalk."

The man just furrowed his brow and went to stand next his father.

"You should go in the back, kid," Emma said softly.

Henry looked back at the door that was shaking under the force of a combined fire ball, and quickly jumped up to hug her. Emma brought her arms around the boy, with a sad smile as he whispered, "please save her."

Just as Henry ran to the backroom followed closely by his father, the door finally burst open. Cora walked forward with a maniacal grin, Regina not far behind with an expressionless face. The woman seemed to not be able to keep eye contact with any of them, and she honestly couldn't understand why she should be ashamed because of any of these people. Especially Snow freaking White.

Cora sauntered forward with the dagger in hand, "I expected better than this Rumpel," she laughed, inspecting his seemingly weak defences.

David stood on one side, brandishing a sword, and Mary Margaret on the other with a bow. Emma stood unarmed, though Cora knew that the blonde probably didn't need anything to cause her arm. Especially if the look of pure hate was anything to go by.

"Well as long as you have the dagger, there isn't really much I can do. To be honest, I never thought of you as a common thief."

Cora rolled her eyes, and with a wave of her hand, Mary Margaret and David each hit a wall, "and then there were two."

Emma opened her palms, balls of white energy appearing in each, and she was visibly shaking.

"Come now dear, do calm down. It certainly doesn't help the potency of the spell to be shaking like a leaf."

For the first time, Regina looked up at the blonde. She couldn't help but feel sympathy for the woman. She now realised that she hadn't fully understood what the woman had been planning with her 'memory potion', but then again all of her memories of this woman were now those of anger. It was for this reason that she stepped in front of her mother.

Instantly Emma closed her palms, making the balls of energy disappear, and Regina furrowed her brow.

"What is wrong with you?" Regina asked somewhat harshly.

Emma looked utterly defeated, as she replied, "I would never hurt you."

"Ignore her dear," Cora said casually commanding Gold to remain where her was, she walked over to the Dark One and reached out to give her daughter the dagger.

Instead, Regina ignored her mother and asked, "why?"

Emma gritted her teeth, she had really hoped to be able to say this in a much more romantic setting, but now seemed like it could be her only chance, "because I love you."

Regina shook her head, every cell in her body was telling her to go over to the blonde, but she wouldn't allow herself to trust her again.

"You're lying," she scowled.

Emma shook her head, "you didn't remember everything Regina."

Regina gritted her teeth, and made her way over to her mother.

"Regina, please. You would never be happy as the Dark One, she just wants to be able to control you."

The younger brunette looked at her mother who simply shook her head, "I simply wish for you to never be hurt again, by making you the most powerful person in all the realms."

"What about love?" a little voice asked.

Emma quickly turned to see Neal just run out to grab Henry, and she rolled her eyes.

"Henry, I told you to stay in the back."

The boy shook his head and walked confidently over his mother.

"Mom, you can't do this."

Regina looked at the boy in shock as he placed his hand on her arm. She found that words failed her as a maternal instinct kicked in.

"She is not your mother child," Cora chuckled, though these Charming's were turning out to be far more persistent than she had first thought. "And why would she need love when she had power?"

"So she doesn't end up as miserable as you," Henry sneered.

Emma and Regina's eyebrows each shot up. The blonde hadn't realised that Henry had been so far past is breaking point, and Regina just hadn't imagined any one talking back to her mother.

A ball of energy appeared in Cora's hand and she shot it at the boy without a second of hesitation.

Regina's eyes widened, and without thought to using her magic, she threw the boy out of the way. She doubled over in pain as it hit her in the stomach.

Cora rolled her eyes, she was about to think of a gushing and caring way to say sorry, only for a fist to connect with her face.

As the woman fell to the floor, Emma ran over to Regina.

"Mom?" Henry asked.

Regina looked up at the two hovering faces that each had worry plastered upon them.

Slowly she sat up and felt a burning pain in her stomach. Tentatively she lifted her shirt to find burnt flesh, and instantly felt like throwing up though she refrained.

Henry's eyes widened, but Emma just threw her hand out over it, allowing her magic to focus on helping Regina, it responded instantly. A light glow appeared, and Regina felt a soothing sensation as the searing pain dimmed.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked once she had finished, completely and utterly worried that she may have made it worse.

Regina just shook her head as she looked between the pair. It was now very clear whom she should trust, so she said, "you said I don't have all of my memories?"

Emma quickly looked over her shoulder to see Gold inspecting Cora, though he had moved the dagger out of her reach, they looked deceptively like normal people. Emma shook her head, and brought the phial of liquid out of her jacket pocket.

Regina took it, and inspected the glass for a moment.

Everything rational within her was telling that she should just trust no one, but this boy and woman just felt far too important to dismiss. They had now each faced her mother for no clear reason. So without a second thought, she downed the potion and felt everything flood back.

Taking a deep breath she looked around the somewhat familiar situation, though this time Cora was unconscious and the heart on the counter remained uncursed.

"Emma," she breathed.

The blonde's face split into a broad grin as she leaned forward to capture her lips. The kiss remained short, however, as Henry wedged his way in and threw his arms around his mother.

"As adorable as this is," Cora interrupted, "would you kindly stay away from my daughter?"

Emma looked up see the woman had woken up, a bruise already forming on the side of her face.

The blonde was on her feet in seconds, Cora sneered at the saviour, and a ball of green energy appeared.

"Didn't you already try a death curse?" Emma laughed.

"My mistake last time was not making sure that you actually stayed dead."

Before she could hurl the energy at the blonde, she suddenly went rigid and closed her palm.

Emma furrowed her brow, far from relaxing, before she saw Gold retract his hand from her back.

He caught the woman as she fell backwards, and he just shook his head at the saviour, "I'll never understand why you doubt me so often."

* * *

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

 **I'm planning to take a break from this fic (a hiatus of sorts) though it will only be a week or two. I just want to give my attention to my other fics haha.**

 **Reviews would be appreciated :)**


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N- Hey guys, I know I said two weeks for an update, but technically I didn't write this chapter** **haha** **.** **QueenApples** **is both my beta and good friend, and she has had many rants about the shows treatment of Cora's storyline, so I asked her to write a Cora centric chapter to get her feelings out about it. I won't be updating until next week (probably Friday or Saturday), so you guys should thank** **QueenApples** **for bringing you an update a week early XD We have co-authored a fic, called 'The King of Redemption' and she has recently started a fic called 'Cursed Puppies' so please check them out if you like what you see here :)**

 **Guest Author Notes – So, hey guys! I'm** **QueenApples** **, you may know me better as** **withgirl's** **beta though, and I wrote this chapter, both as a way to not leave you guys hanging for two weeks and because I have a thing for Cora. I hope you have fun reading o/. Oh, and I have only just started full on writing so, please, be gentle on your critics e-e. If you like my writing style then go read my** **stories** **xD** **.**

xxxxxxxxxx

Standing over the bed after having finished his examination, Whale scribbled some final information on the patient's medical records.

Turning around he stopped for a second to look at the sleeping face of Cora Mills. "No wonder the mayor ended up the way she did." He thought out loud while remembering the events that had been happening because of the woman.

He was no saint, but messing around with his own daughter the way the older brunette had done was another level of wickedness.

Turning around and shaking his head at the bedded woman, he failed to notice the tell tale signs of someone waking up.

xxxxxxxxxx

Going to Granny's the Charming and the Mills family were about to try and enjoy one of the rare days of peace in Storybrooke because they knew it was unlikely it would last.

So, for Henry's sake, they decided to put their differences aside and try to enjoy some dinner.

Right before entering the dinner though, Regina stopped and looked around.

"What is it Mom?" Said the boy after noticing the strange look on his brunette mother face.

"Oh, nothing, dear." She said absentmindedly still observing her surroundings, following her look the boy couldn't see anything either.

"I just felt something..." ' _Or more likely, someone following me'._ She finished mentally.

Briefly narrowing her eyes she decided to let it pass and shrugged the sensation away.

"Let's go." She said while turning, and putting a arm over her son's shoulders to guide him inside the dinner, not really noticing the shadow moving in the alley in front of where they were.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Cora Mills could be labelled in many ways for all her deeds, but confused was never one of them, at least, not until now.

But alas there she lay hidden in the shadows, observing her daughter be the mother she never had the luck of having herself, feeling utterly lost. ' _She certainly inherited her_ _parenting skills from Henry.'_

Teleporting herself out of there, the woman tried to sort through these **things** that were once again part of her judgement.

' _Emotions'_ she thought, _'peculiar things that had served me in no good way during my life.'_ but alas she couldn't bring herself do get rid of them again, to simply put her hand in her chest and take her heart out, for there was one feeling in particular that she couldn't help but want to feel.

' _I had forgotten how it felt to feel love... that is, if I ever even truly felt it before.'_ She thought about when she believed she had found love for good, that she had finally found someone that fit her just right, someone she was going to willingly give up revenge for, the ultimate stake that drove her to cease feeling altogether.

She also thought about her own family. She was sure she had no lost feelings for her useless father but then she remembered a time when she had felt something for the old man, in a time when her mother was still alive, before she was consumed by the need of revenge.

Revenge for the humiliation she felt everyday of her life from the royals. A humiliation she herself applied to so many others. That thought brought home a new set of emotions, and furrowing her brow, the woman tried to remember what it could be. ' _Guilt'_ She concluded with a scoff, now there was a set of emotion she hadn't missed at all.

Ignoring it altogether, the woman tried to move on from it. She may have her emotions back and she may not feel like love was all that much of a weakness anymore, but that didn't mean she would show it freely, after all, she still had her pride and logical mind influencing her actions.

But, unfortunately for her, emotions didn't quite work that way, and you couldn't simply ignore them at will, not if they became too overwhelming to make that possible, and that was exactly what happened once she remembered the things she should truly regret the things she did regret in that moment. Two in particular, each having a name of their own. Her daughters.

' _Oh, what have I done?'_ That was the moment that Cora Mills felt the most powerless she had ever felt in her life.

With tears running freely down her face she recalled the old feeling of overwhelming guilt that had also played a part in her need to rip her own heart out, that convinced her that love brought nothing but weakness, for that was all she had felt when she left her new born child alone on her own, weakness, and pain.

She had felt like the worst person in the world, and even if at the time she had simply ignored the feeling by concentrating on her obsession for power, she found it impossible to do it now because in addition to this past mistake she also had the wrongs she inflicted upon her other daughter to add to them.

Feeling overwhelmed, the woman looked around, rapidly taking in her surroundings, and concluding that she was completely alone in that forest, she fell to her knees. Her past actions overwhelming her completely as she started recalling them.

She remembered holding her first born in her arms and giving her up, she remembered the pain she ignored, she remembered the fear she had felt for her child, ' _what possibly happened her?',_ in that moment Cora Mills saw herself hoping that someone found her child that someone created them as their own, but one thing she found herself sure of in that moment was that whatever her fate had been she probably had a better life than Regina did by her own hands.

There lay the cause of her most deep suffering, for she had seen Regina grown, she had truly taken in the girl as her daughter, she knew her like very few, and she had used her completely. She had manipulated her to no bounds. She had abused of her, punishing her for things she had no control of, ripping any happiness away from her, much like she had done to herself. ' _I accused King_ _Xavier_ _of selling his own flesh yet I did the same with my own, but in a much_ _worse way...'_

And what utterly destroyed her emotionally in that moment was the feeling that she felt in her chest when she now thought of her youngest daughter, a feeling she had felt when holding her first daughter, ' _Whatever_ _may her name be, if she even has one.'_ a feeling she should have felt when holding Regina as well.

A feeling so strong that it should have known no bounds, so complex that it shouldn't be considered as something individual for it involved lots of others, it encompassed protectiveness, care and above all, love, a feeling that should be how every mother felt for their child and in that moment Cora felt how utterly wrong she was for not admiring this feeling before, for refusing to acknowledge it.

Yet, she now felt it, maybe even more strongly then the first time because even without her heart, even without being able to feel it, she had formed a bond with Regina, and that bond was what truly defined motherhood. It wasn't simply about giving birth, but being connected to a child. A tie that she had witnessed between the daughter she failed to raise and the grandson she didn't deserve to meet.

Concentrating on that feeling though, the woman raised to her feet and recomposed herself. A renewed determination blooming in her chest.

She didn't know how or if it would ever be possible, but she was determined to change, determined to become the mother her daughter deserved much like the woman had done herself for her own son.

It would take time, and patience, but she was determined to rise above her own crimes, to become worthy of a family, for now she knew, ' _Love isn't weakness. It's_ _strength.'_

 _xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

 **QANotes** **– So, hey o/,** **QueenApples** **here again, and that was the ending, powerful right? No? Oh well, I particularly am proud of this u-u I poured my heart out on this one... hope it shows. So, yeah, thanks for reading and I hope to see you around o/. (And thanks** **withgirl** **for the opportunity of finally giving me an excuse to ramble about one the Mills** **xD** **, I know I had a really strong problem of cold feet and delayed this till the last minute but I still loved writing every second of it ; P)**

 **A/N-Reviews would be much appreciated (and please send QueenApples some love XD)**


	43. Chapter 43

**A/N So the hiatus is finally over XD**

 **Just so you guys know I've been working on three other fics, 'I Can't Lose You', 'We Need To Get Over It' and 'An (Un)welcome Surprise,' so I would appreciate it if you guys wanted to check them out XD**

 **I've also been editing 'The Hatter' by PerditusFic, I am now officially the beta and co-author, so I would love if you guys would check it out. It's a very interesting story, I would definitely recommend i.**

 **I'll try and update this every other day, anyway without any further ado, here's the chapter:**

Chapter 43

-One week later-

"I have to go to work, Emma," Regina chuckled as she felt the blonde's strong arms pull her closer.

"Five more minutes, Gina," she mumbled against her back.

The brunette rolled her eyes, and turned to face her girlfriend, "I'm being serious."

"So am I," Emma said, her eyes were still closed, but the huge smirk on her face revealed that she was in fact awake.

"Don't you have work too? You're supposed to be finding a new deputy."

"David is the deputy, he just doesn't know yet," Emma finally opened her eyes, and just tightened her grip on her girlfriend's waist.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before they both turned at the knock at the door.

"Come in," Regina called.

Once the handle turned Henry came in, covering both of his eyes, he said, "are you making breakfast?"

"Kid, you can uncover your eyes," Emma laughed, finally releasing Regina they both sat up. She knew that the ten year old was adverse to see them kissing, but he honestly had no idea what kind of thing he could walk in on, so she was somewhat happy that he insisted on covering his eyes.

Henry peeked through his fingers to find them looking perfectly innocent, and he asked again, "breakfast?"

Regina jumped out of bed, "go and get dressed and I'll get started."

Henry quickly hugged her, something he had been doing a lot over the past week, and Emma guessed it was because he had lost her about three times in a few weeks, so he was being understandably clingy of his mother.

Emma came and stood next to her, and circled her waist with her arms and rested her chin on her shoulder, "I thought you were meeting Graham for breakfast."

"I am, but that doesn't mean I can't make it for you and our son."

Emma smiled broadly, and twisted her arm for a not so sweet kiss.

* * *

Regina walked into the diner, and instantly raised an eyebrow at the former sheriff. She remembered his hesitation that day in her office, and she was now sure that she had missed something that he wanted to talk to her about; she also had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with a certain wolf.

"Good morning, madam mayor," he smiled; the man almost seemed relieved that she was there. He had wanted to talk to her for a while, but figured that he should wait and allow her to spend time with her family.

Regina slid easily into the booth, "I heard you and the wolf broke up."

Graham's eyebrows shot up, before he deflated, "I don't know why I thought a hunter and a wolf would be a good idea."

"You're not a hunter anymore, in fact as the leader of the animal shelter aren't you quite the opposite?" Regina laughed, and mouthed 'thank you' to the waitress who placed a coffee in front of her.

Graham nodded in agreement, "my past was a tense subject, besides we kind of mutually broke up. It wasn't working out."

"Why am I the only one you can talk about this with?"

"Well even though we didn't work out, we're friends, so I need your help to stop her from being an idiot," he explained.

"How so?" Regina asked with a furrowed brow.

"Her and Belle," Graham replied, "I've noticed them dancing around each other. Belle has officially broken up with Gold..."

Regina held up her hand, "did you call me here to gossip?"

Graham sighed dramatically and said, "you could look at it like that. A lot of things have happened in the weeks you were...not yourself," he gestured towards another booth where Mulan and Aurora were holding hands and laughing.

"Okay, so you want me to help you to get your ex-girlfriend with another woman?"

Graham shrugged with a wry grin, "I helped you and Emma get together."

Regina rolled her eyes, "we were hardly anything of note."

The man nodded in agreement and they both fell into silence as they each took a drink of their morning beverages.

"Fine I'll help," Regina finally relented, "but I would suggest talking to Henry about it, he could come up with some kind of operation and make everything easier."

* * *

Emma paced the apartment floor, her parents and Henry sat on the couch watching her move from side to side somewhat comically, until Henry put his hand up.

"Did you want something, Emma?"

The blonde finally stopped pacing and faced the three that she had called here, "I'm freaking out!"

"Why?" David chuckled.

"I'm supposed to be taking Regina on our first date tomorrow, and I've got nothing!" she said dramatically.

"You haven't been on a first date yet? But you've stopped over nearly every day," Henry said with a furrowed brow.

Emma's ears promptly turned pink and she shook her head, "I missed her for so long that I wanted spend as much time as possible with her," she said, before she added much to Henry's confusion, "we just slept."

David shifted uncomfortably in his sit at what she could have been implying, and coughed to move the conversation forward, "just take her to dinner."

"There's two restaurants in this town," Emma said with an exasperated sigh, before she noticed her mother biting her lip, "you have an idea, what is it?"

"You're not going to like it," Snow warned.

"I'm up for anything at this point," Emma said desperately.

"Well Storybrooke has stables..." she said slowly.

Emma paled and shook her head, "anything but that."

"Do you have any better ideas?" the other woman chuckled.

"But..."

Charming furrowed his brow as he watched the exchange, Mary Margaret had told him everything that had happened in the Enchanted Forest, but it was still rather strange that the fearless woman he had read about could be afraid of horses.

"You know that she would love it, sweetheart."

Emma sighed, and handed her mother the phone, "fine, but you book it, I'll probably chicken out."

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated XD feel free to pm with any ideas that you want to see in this fic**


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N Hey guys, so I just wanted to run an idea by you haha**

 **I'm planning a crossover between House MD/OUAT since I haven't been able to find many with SwanQueen in them. I have the first chapter done, so please pm me or leave it in a review if you guys would be interested in me posting it, I'm just not sure how much interest it would get haha The basic idea behind it is that House and his team end up in Storybrooke and meet Dark One Emma, so please let me know what you think, because I'm actually quite excited about what I have planned XD**

Chapter 44

Cora watched curiously as Regina wiped something off the side of Henry's cheek, the boy playfully swatted away the napkin, but he seemed to be unsuccessful in his protests.

She quietly sighed and turned back to her coffee.

It wasn't that her daughter was ignoring her; she had gotten her an apartment and introduced her as best she could to everything that this world had to offer. But every interaction with her had that underlying feeling of distrust, and she honestly had no reason to argue with it. After everything she had done, she had been surprised that Regina even allowed her to stay in her town.

None of this changed the pain that she felt as she saw her daughter smile lovingly at her son, and she couldn't help but think that was something Regina would have only gotten from her father. The boy seemed to be talking animatedly to two mothers and the former sheriff. Regina grabbed the strange magical contraption that she had told her was a 'laptop' and began typing faster than Cora believed to be possible. Henry furrowed his brow at what she was typing and quickly batted her hand away, and began to tap at the keys.

Cora vaguely recognised the word 'operation' as they had walked past her booth upon entering the diner. At the time she had unknowingly hid herself behind a menu, and now couldn't help but feel ridiculous, _why am I so afraid to talk to my own daughter and her family?_

"You do know that you could go and talk to them?"

Cora's head snapped up, and strangely she relaxed when she saw it was just Gold.

Though the pair had a somewhat mixed past, he had practically been her only friend over the past week. He was frankly the only one that she could talk to without having to endure long stretches of stilted awkwardness.

"I trust that you and your child have been having some rich conversation since his return," she shot back.

A smirk played across the store owner's lips, though her words should have cut him, he couldn't exactly begrudge her them since they were basically in the same position.

He easily slid into the booth, "my personal life has no bearing on my advice."

"It certainly has a bearing on your qualification to give such advice." Gold stared her down, and she rolled her eyes, "it's not that simple."

The man tilted his head and furrowed his brow, "as I recall it was Regina's plan that brought you here in the first place. The fact that she wants you here is surely undeniable."

"Her wish to have me in this town may have changed after my recent...indiscretions."

"If Regina didn't want you here, than you wouldn't be here," Gold chuckled, and Cora rolled her eyes.

"Simply being here is not all I want," she sighed.

Gold followed her gaze to where his grandson was leaning his head on Regina's shoulder, and he turned back to the woman that he secretly still harboured strong feelings for.

"I suppose if you stop acting like you're afraid of your daughter, you may actually be able to mend your relationship," Gold pondered.

"Easier said than done," she sighed.

* * *

"You know, Miss Swan, I am not fond of being blindfolded," Regina commented, making Emma huff as she turned a corner.

"It'll be worth it, don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Regina replied instantly, "it's the metal death trap that I find myself being wary of."

Emma rolled her eyes, though she was internally brimming with excitement about her first words.

The car screeched to a stop, and Emma considered whether she had time to turn back and avoid this entirely, before the neighing of a horse sounded making her close her eyes in frustration.

"You brought me to the stables?" Regina laughed, though Emma noted how excited she looked even with the blindfold on, and decided that the adorable expression would be worth her absolute terror.

Regina lifted the blindfold off, and turned to Emma with a huge smile. Leaning forward, she quickly captured her lips in her own, "thank you."

Emma's tension suddenly melted away, and she quickly jumped out of the car, running around she opened Regina's side, "your majesty," she bowed with a smirk.

Regina rolled her eyes, and regally exited the bug.

"I didn't know I would get to give you the lesson so soon," she commented as the blonde approached the trunk.

"Well this was the only suggestion that..." Emma's ears quickly turned pink and she looked over to the brunette.

"You got help to plan this?" Regina laughed.

"I wanted everything to be perfect so I got advice."

"From?" she smirked as she approached her girlfriend, frankly she was touched that the blonde had even put this much effort into this.

"My parents...and Henry," Emma blush deepened.

Regina brought her arms around her neck, and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, "well then I owe a thank you to three other people."

"You're going to thank Mary Margaret?" Emma laughed.

Regina grimaced and quickly, "you can do it for me."

Emma smirked and brought her hands up to the other woman's waist, "will do, now what do you say we get this date going?"

 **A/N Unfortunately I have work for the next two days so no updates until Friday (Saturday at the latest) :) but the next chapter will be dedicated to their date so hopefully it will be worth the two day wait haha**

 **Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N Hey guys, just to let you know I have added my upcoming fics to my profile so feel free to check them out and send me any ideas you have that I could use for them XD**

Chapter forty-five

"Picnic, Miss Swan?" Regina smirked as she inspected one of the sandwiches that the blonde had packed, "it's rather cliché, isn't it?"

Emma rolled her eyes and scooted closer to her girlfriend on the patchwork blanket that they were sat on, "there's not many options in Storybrooke, and it's only stage one."

Regina smirked and brought the sandwich up to her mouth, "I didn't mean offence, it was merely an observation."

"Well then if you have a better idea, you can plan the next date," Emma chuckled.

Regina swallowed the peanut butter and jelly, and pretended to grimace at it, though she had to admit that it was rather good.

"Rather presumptuous, aren't we sheriff?"

The blonde leaned closer and whispered, "did I presume wrong?"

In answer, Regina closed the distance, though the kiss was promptly cut short by the loud neighing of a nearby horse, which caused Emma to huff, "this is why I hate horses."

Regina snickered and asked, "has a equine preventing you from kissing in the past?"

"I think you meant to say cock block, madam mayor," Emma smirked.

"I can assure you that I would never mean to say that," the blonde laughed and they fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes while they ate. Once the sandwich was fully consumed, however, Regina asked the question that had been on her mind for a while, "why do you hate horses?"

Emma picked at the pattern on the blanket for a few moments, until she finally looked up at her girlfriend, "one of my foster homes had stables."

Regina furrowed her brow, "and that was a bad thing?"

The saviour blew out a breath, knowing that it would probably be better if Regina understood her fear, so she decided that she would finally open up to someone, even if it was just something small to begin with. "They locked me with one of the horses because I asked for dinner, there was a thunder storm and the horse got spooked."

In that moment, Regina felt like a complete moron, and she quickly placed a hand on Emma's shoulder, "you don't have to ride."

Emma's eyes met Regina's and she smiled broadly, "I'm trying to be romantic."

The brunette brought her arm around the other woman's shoulder, and replied, "that's very chivalrous of you, dear, but I would much prefer you to not be any more traumatised than is necessary."

"We had a deal Regina," Emma quickly hopped up, bringing to stand close to her, "you took down the ogre, now I have to learn how to ride a horse. Besides, your here now, so if the horse gets spooked you can just do something magic-y."

"That's very technical of you dear," Regina chuckled, as she brought her arms around the taller woman's neck, instinctively, Emma's arms snaked around her waist.

Their lips connected again, this time lasting much longer, until Emma finally remember that she had a whole thing planned and pulled back.

"Stop distracting me," she pouted.

"If I knew it was this easy to stop the saviour, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble," Regina teased.

"I wouldn't have said no to that plan, your majesty. Now come on, I got you a present."

"Present?" Regina asked apprehensively, she admittedly didn't know much about first dates, but she was sure that presents weren't typically until later, "and why would you do that?"

Emma pulled Regina towards the stables, surprisingly with Regina's hand in hers, she wasn't even thinking about the fact that she was heading towards the little beasts that had been the manifestation of fear for a good portion of her life.

"Because I'm the best girlfriend in the world, duh," Emma chuckled.

"I don't doubt that, but I also don't doubt that you want a present in return."

"I don't give to receive," the blonde replied in faux outrage as they finally stopped outside of the stable door.

Regina kissed the pout of the other woman's lips, and she instantly smiled despite herself. She was instantly reminded of just how much she loved the woman, and though Regina had yet to return the sentiment that she had displayed in the pawn shop, she had no doubt that her feelings were returned in full force. Though horses were the blonde's biggest fear, it had become clear that Regina's was far more serious, she was afraid of love, or more specifically, the possibility of losing it. It was for this reason that Emma hadn't brought up the issue, it wasn't like she was particularly comfortable with the subject herself, but she also hadn't seen her mother rip out her first love's heart, so she was sure that it was more a genuine fear for Regina rather than a anxiety.

Shaking her head from her deep thoughts, she quickly pulled the mayor into the stables, and stopped at the last compartment which contained a brown stallion.

Regina tilted her head, "you brought me a horse?"

The sheriff nodded profusely, "Henry said that you don't have one anymore and I didn't want you to have to ride on a rented one every time you come here, he said something about connection being import..."

Before she could finish, she was instantly enveloped in a hug, "I love...the present, thank you."

Emma brought her arms around the other woman, and whispered, "that's not the whole gift."

Regina furrowed her brow, and pulled back to allow Emma to continue her presentation. From behind her she produced a saddle, and Regina's mouth dropped open.

"How...?" couldn't even finish her sentence as she ran her hand across the embroiled leather, her family crest as her father had ordered to be put upon Rocinate's saddle all those decades ago.

"It wasn't easy," Emma chuckled, "I am terrible at magic."

Regina smirked, despite the few stray tears of joy she felt at the corners of her eyes, and waved her hand to place the saddle upon her new steed.

"Well then perhaps you need some lessons?"

"I wouldn't learn much with you as my teacher, you would just distract me," Emma replied, bringing the smaller woman closer to her once again.

"I have a different lesson to teach you now at any rate," Regina smirked as she led Emma towards the gift.

* * *

Emma's tight grip on Regina's waist fell away almost two hours later, and she began to laugh joyously as the horse galloped at top speed.

"This is awesome!" she shouted in glee, which caused Regina to grin broadly.

"Did you ever doubt me?"

"The idea of riding gave me pause," Emma teased as they finally slowed to a canter.

"If you ever use that phrase again, then you will need to a much bigger gift to get back into a good graces," Regina scowled playfully.

The pair finally dismounted, and Regina caught the wobbly legged blonde.

The horse turned his head to Emma and she quickly jumped back in fear.

Regina rolled her eyes and stroked the stallions head, "at least we made progress."

Emma nodded in agreement, still hiding behind the other woman, "when we was riding it was kind of like a motorbike, but the face reminds me that he's a horse."

The horse, who Emma had 'cleverly' called Chestnut, seemed to neigh indignantly and Regina snickered, "that's still progress I suppose."

Regina thanked one of the stable hands as he led Chestnut away, and turned to Emma.

"Thank you," she said genuinely.

Emma's fear melted away instantly and she replied, "so you liked the date?"

"I loved it," Regina smiled, connecting their lips in a small peck, after a few moments, she took a deep breath and added, "I love you."

Emma nodded as she processed the words, and a flash of rejection went across Regina's face, until the pale pink lips crashed against hers in a much more passionate kiss.

"I love you too," Emma mumbled against the other woman's lips.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, just a heads up I can't write much when I have work and I'm doing more shifts to save, so updates for all of my fics may become less frequent, though when I don't have work I'll write as much as possible XD**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated**


	46. Chapter 46

**A/N Hey guys, thanks for all of the ideas, they were really helpful XD I now have another arc planned, so I hope you guys enjoy :)**

 **I especially need to thank TheElephantInThePrideParade, who has become my kind of consultant for this part of the season XD most of the ideas in this chapter and the next couple are theirs.**

 **And as usual I need to thank my beta QueenApples for helping to edit my first longer chapter haha**

Chapter forty-six

"How did it go?" Henry asked excitedly.

Emma smiled at the boy sitting across from her in the diner booth, and replied, "didn't you ask your mom?"

"She said it was perfect, just making sure that you feel the same," he said with an encouraging smile.

"It was better than perfect, apart from the whole terrified thing."

Henry let out a bark of laughter and dug a fork into his pancakes, "mom said that you said the horse riding was awesome."

"The riding, not the horse," Emma said petulantly, "what time is your mom coming anyway?"

"Miss her?" he smirked.

The blonde tilted her head with a small smirk, and replied, "yes."

Henry rolled his eyes playfully, and finally answered her question, "she just needs to pick up some papers from her office, she shouldn't be too long."

The pair then fell into a comfortable silence, each of them thoroughly enjoying their breakfasts, only to be interrupted by a familiar face.

"Hey Neal," Henry said brightly.

"Hey kid," he returned, and stood awkwardly in front of them for a second.

Emma's eyes fell upon the door, wishing Regina would show up, which usually made her ex scurry away, but the brunette didn't arrive, so she internally sighed, and asked, "do you want to join us?"

Neal nodded vigorously, and before Emma could suggest that he sit next to Henry, he slid in next to the blonde, a moment later, Ruby placed a coffee in front of the man.

The wolf shot Emma a questioning look, and she just shrugged in reply.

Ruby returned with an exasperated look, and walked back over to the counter where her 'friend', Belle sat.

"So...how are you liking Storybrooke?" Emma sighed, shifting as far into the corner as possible.

Neal looked down at his coffee for a moment before he answered, "It's alright."

"Found a job yet?"

Neal nodded awkwardly, "my dad gave me Belle's old job since she's working at the library now."

They fell into a somewhat oppressive silence, each of the Charmings looking to the door and hoping for an interruption.

Finally it seemed that the younger of them had enough of the silence, and he quickly jumped up, "I need to use the restroom," he announced before he quickly ran away. Though he had been spending more time with his father, he still found it strange to even think about the fact that he had a father. Whenever the pair was together they always fell into small talk, and they had certainly never spent any time around his mothers, which Henry could tell must be a difficult subject for Neal.

Emma shot her son a dirty look and he just mouthed 'sorry' and ran away.

Emma looked to her supposed first love and offered a strained smile, and returned to looking at her coffee.

"So...you're a time-traveller?" Neal whispered looking around to make sure that no one was listening.

Emma looked at the man critically, and saw the tell-tale signs of disbelief, and tried not to laugh at how hopeful he looked for a response in the negative, "did Henry tell you?"

"He may have mentioned it, but it's just his imagination, right?"

Emma considered her options, and she knew instantly that she couldn't have another parent trying to convince Henry that he's crazy, just because she didn't really want to talk to her ex, "nope."

Neal nodded, and seemed to be taking a moment to process this, and finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for a while, "so you have magic?"

Emma nodded slowly, and they once again fell into silence. The blonde knew that it wasn't a subject in which Neal was comfortable, but he had seemed to get over it eventually in the other timeline.

"You know I missed you, right?" he whispered after a moment, and Emma guessed he was trying to decide whether he was going to allow the new information to bother him, and she noted that he still looked rather tense about the subject of magic.

The blonde let out a breath of frustration, and said as calmly as possible, "was that before or after I got out of prison?"

"Emma..." he began.

Said woman quickly cut him off, and added, "I don't want to talk about this Neal."

"You told me you loved me, you can't just tell me that you fell out of love with me," he said defensively, trying to shift closer to her.

The blonde quickly put her hand out to stop his advancement, and replied, "I didn't fall out of love with you, I just fell in love with Regina."

He seemed to completely ignore the latter part of her statement, and asked, "so you love me?"

Emma continued to hold up her hand preventing his attempt to get any closer, and replied, "not in that way anymore."

"Why?" he asked rather childishly.

"You haven't exactly done anything to win my trust."

Neal sighed, and didn't seem to think his next words through and replied, "and the Evil Queen has?"

Emma's hand dropped to her side. She knew for a fact that Baelfire lived in the Enchanted Forest centuries before Regina was even born, so there was no way that he could have been personally affected by anything that she did during her time as the Evil Queen, so his statement had clearly just been out of spite.

Before she could retort in anger, he took the opportunity of her lowered hand, to lunge forward and connect their lips, only to be quickly met with a fist to the stomach.

"What the hell?!" the blonde shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the diner.

Neal clutched his stomach, looking around the faces staring at him in surprise, he tried desperately to hide his embarrassment.

But his expression quickly turned to fear as he saw the unreadable expression of the woman standing at the door holding a folder.

Regina looked around the diner warningly, and reluctantly people began to turn their attention back to their breakfasts. Once they all had, she almost glided over to the booth, which Neal had already jumped up out of, wearing a very guilty expression.

"Regina..." Emma began weakly, hoping to at least prevent a heart rip, but the other woman just quickly held up her hand to stop the blonde's protests.

"What was that?" she asked Neal in a deceptively calm voice.

The man looked between the pair, and noticed Henry standing outside the restroom door watching the exchange apprehensively.

Regina followed his line of sight, and saw her son.

She took a deep breath and allowed some of her anger to fall away, preventing the fireball she wished to throw at the man from forming, and then looked back to Neal for an answer.

"I-I kissed Emma," he said, trying to sound confident about his decision.

"Why?" she shot back in a warning tone.

"Because...I love her."

Emma jumped up out of the booth and stood next to her girlfriend, making Regina visibly relax, "that doesn't change the fact that she is in a relationship," the mayor replied as calmly as possible.

Neal looked between the two women, noticing once again that the entire diner had their eyes upon the scene, and he decided to just bite the bullet and air his thoughts, "we all know that it isn't going to last long."

A shocked silence fell over the diner, everyone in town had begun to put some trust in the queen, and they were all very aware that it was because of her relationship with the saviour. There wasn't many who would dispute that they made a perfect couple, not in the least because of the look of pure anger on the mayor's face in this moment.

"What makes you think that?" Emma asked, clearly insulted, she took her hand off Regina's shoulder.

"Well...we just make more sense, Emma," he replied almost pleadingly, "we have a son together."

"You think biology is going to convince me?" Emma scoffed.

"Well you can't exactly deny that Henry isn't actually your son," Neal replied.

Regina looked at Emma, knowing her next words would probably cut deep, but she just received a nod of encouragement from her girlfriend, "what's his favourite colour?"

Neal furrowed his brow, "how would I possibly know that?"

"It's green," she countered, "his favourite subject at school? Favourite superhero?"

"I don't..." Neal began nervously looking around the diner at the judging faces.

"English and Wolverine," Emma contributed with a small smile, _at least I know more than Nea_ l.

"I agreed to allow you to see our son, Mr Cassidy, but I can just as easily take that right away from you. You have barely known him for a month, and yet you are trying to convince me that you have more right to see him just because you share DNA?" she asked incredulously.

"He's still my son!" he defended, though it was sounding rather weak.

"What's his full name?"

Neal's eyes widened and he looked to the ten year old for help, but the boy just remained standing behind his two mothers and looked to his father expectantly.

"Henry...err...Henry..."

"Henry Daniel Mills," Ruby called from the counter, she figured the man at least deserved to have some of the embarrassment relieved, even if she was on Regina's side with this.

"It's not my fault I don't know this!" Neal finally shouted, "I didn't even know that he existed."

Henry's eyes widened, and he looked up to Emma who refused to meet his eyes.

"Emma?" the boy asked tentatively, "is that true?"

Emma nodded slightly, and Henry quickly grabbed his backpack and made a run for the door. The blonde threw her head back in exasperation, and ran after him.

"What is wrong with you?" Regina shouted at the man who looked somewhat shell shocked.

"He deserved to know."

"He's ten!"

"I have the right to make decisions for my son," Neal retorted.

Regina was about to reply, but instead, she just clenched her fists.

They stared at each for a moment, before Regina just decided that she didn't need to be democratic in every situation, and retracted her fist, without hesitation she punched him straight in the nose.

As Neal fell back against the booth clutching his face, Regina turned on her heels and went off in search of Henry and Emma.

* * *

Emma quickly shot Regina a text to say that she found Henry, saying that she could handle it, and the slowly approached his castle.

"Your very predictable kid," she commented as she inspected the previously demolished structure.

Henry looked up from the opened book on his lap, and deadpanned, "you're from the future, that's not fair."

The blonde chuckled slightly, and hopped up to sit next to her son, "I guess you're right. Is that the new storybook?" she asked with a furrowed brow, looking at the image of she and Henry walking down Main Street.

Henry nodded and handed the tome to the older woman.

"Looking for anything in particular?" she asked as she skimmed over the passage next to the picture.

"I'm seeing if you lied to me in the other timeline."

Emma nodded in understanding and replied, "I told you that your dad was a fireman that died a hero."

"I know," he said hollowly, "I kind of wish that you'd lie to me again."

"You're not mad at me?" she asked in shock.

Henry shook his head, and replied, "Neal is a jerk. This says that he sent you to prison."

"He also sacrificed himself in the other timeline to save me, he just has a lot to adjust to, at heart he's a good guy. He made a pretty decent dad as well."

"Really?" Henry perked up.

"I thought you read the book," Emma laughed.

"I was focusing on the parts about you and mom," the boy chuckled.

Emma nodded in understanding, and explained, "he taught you how to sword fight."

"Awesome..." Henry trailed and seemed to be in deep thought, and Emma nudged him with her elbow.

"What's up, kid?"

"He just seems like a bad guy, he told mom that I'm not his son," he replied sadly.

Emma brought her arm around his small shoulders, and said rather solemnly, "as bad as it is, she's heard that a few times. Trust me, she doesn't believe it."

"Did I really do all the stuff that this book says I did?" he asked and turned to the page with the words 'I found my real mom' standing out amongst the others.

"You didn't do it, Henry," Emma answered, which earned her a look of confusion, "a different version of you did it."

"Are you talking about multi-verse theory?"

"Sure..." Emma laughed, "the point is that you can't feel guilty for something you never actually did. Even if it was somehow your fault, you've more than made up for it."

"So if I'm a different person...could Neal be?"

"What do you mean?" Emma asked with a tilted head.

"He just seems like a horrible person," Henry shrugged.

Emma thought back to the diner, and decided this was definitely something she needed to talk to Regina about. Neal did seem outright vindictive, and he looked physically angry at the thought of magic, "I'll look into it," she assured.

Henry nodded, and leaned his head on his blonde mother's shoulder, "I should probably stop running away," he thought out loud.

"You will eventually," Emma chuckled, and brought her arm around him, "it's in your genes."

* * *

Regina ran her fingers across where the small cuts on her knuckles once were, since she had quickly healed the small wounds earlier, and sat back in her desk chair.

She had been informed that Neal's nose wasn't broken, she just wished that she had given the man more than a nose bleed, but she decided to take what she could get, especially considering that he would probably be in her life for a long time.

Her phone buzzed, and she grabbed it to read, 'on my way, just finished some paperwork ;)' Regina raised her eyebrow at the words. She would seriously question them if she wasn't looking forward to lunch with her girlfriend.

Regina sighed in relief and quickly replied, 'see you soon, dear', and tried once again to concentrate on her work, but she found herself distracted again.

She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Her mother had assured her that Captain Hook would no longer be an issue, Gold had left town without attracting Greg, and Neal didn't get a chance to be engaged to Tamara, but she still felt this foreboding creeping upon her.

She blew out a breath of frustration, and finally began absentmindedly typing some environmental report about the park.

Eventually she found herself typing the last word, and furrowed her brow realising that it had been half an hour.

Grabbing her phone again, she saw that she hadn't missed any calls or texts, and rolled her eyes.

Clicking call button, her eyebrows instantly shot up as the familiar female voice told her that the number had been disconnected.

She stared blankly at the phone for a moment, and quickly called the station.

"Sheriff's station," David answered.

"Where's Emma?" Regina asked without pretence.

"She's with you, right?"

Regina clenched her hand around the phone, and briefly wondered if it would smash, but quickly put that thought aside, and ground out, "she's sitting right in front of me, I thought it would be hilarious to ask anyway."

For a moment she was sure that she could actually hear the saviour's father roll his eyes, but he just replied, "maybe she's caught up at the diner."

Regina quickly clicked off the call, and phoned Granny's.

After a short conversation, she heard all she needed to know: Emma never made it to get their lunch.

Various scenarios ran through her mind, she quickly dismissed the idea that the blonde had ran away, because frankly she knew that at this point it made no sense. That left the situations in which someone had hurt her love, and they would regret it if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

Emma opened one eye slowly, and instantly closed as the light attacked her iris.

She vaguely remembered being called to get Pongo just before going to the diner. One trip into the outskirts of the forest, and something hitting the back of her head later, was all she could remember.

Finally, she decided that she had to open her heavy eyes and inspect the situation.

She could tell that she was in some kind of cabin, with wires trailing across the floor.

While trying to moisten her mouth, she attempted to move, only to find an inch in any direction was as far as she could go. Then she saw the thing that confirmed what had happened to her.

That black arm band was bound upon her biceps, and she suddenly registered its oppressive effects. She seriously began to feel sympathy for the fact that Regina had gone almost three decades without her magic, because without it flowing through her veins, she felt almost hollow.

"Greg?" she managed to call out, though her dry throat maybe it sound hoarsely pathetic.

"Impressive," a male voice came from next to her.

Emma turned quickly, and winced as the pain flooded her synapses.

Swallowing hard she took in the image of the familiar man. Seeing his smug expression, she wanted nothing more than to punch it off, not least for what he had done to Regina.

"You know, for a time traveller, you were very easy to outsmart," he pointed out.

"What do you want?" Emma growled.

Greg tilted his head, and smirked, "I don't want anything, just doing a favour for a friend. It just so happens that I also have the opportunity to make the Evil Queen miserable at the same time."

Emma violently jerked in her binds, wishing to break them and attack her kidnapper, but at his howl of laughter, she stopped and took a deep breath.

"Where's Tamara?"

Greg furrowed his brow, "who?"

Emma took a deep, calming breath, _what's the point of knowing the future if so much is different?,_ "she was your partner. I assumed she was your 'friend'."

"Oh no, you wouldn't have had to be a time traveller to know who he is," he said cryptically.

"What?" Emma sighed, the throbbing in the back of her head making everything sound more annoying than it really was.

Greg pointed to the other side of the room, and the blonde scowled at him, before turning to see what other goon she had to deal with this time.

As the familiar man stepped out of the corner shadow, her mouth dropped open, and she just about managed to stutter, "N-Neal?"

 **A/N So a few people have asked for longer chapters, and since I can't update every couple days as I had planned, I've decided to make this a once a week fic (maybe twice depending on my schedule/amount of inspiration) and have chapters about this length. Do you guys like that plan? Is this about the length you were looking for?**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated, and once again thank you all for helping to free me from the writings block XD haha**


	47. Chapter 47

**A/N Hey so I increased the rating to T and this chapter has T/W's for torture and implied self-harm. I also used one swear word in this chapter, feel free to let me know if you would rather that I didn't use them. I know this chapter is a bit dark compared to the others but I hope you enjoy it anyway XD**

Chapter forty-seven

Neal leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, refusing to meet the pleading eyes of his first love. Greg continued to turn switches, preparing the machine that Emma found all too familiar, and she was ashamed to say that she was actually terrified.

Regina had been tortured for hours with that very machine, and seemed to have come away from it unscathed. Despite her injuries, the stubborn woman had gone straight to the mines in an attempt to give her life for a town of people who claimed to hate her.

"Why?" she managed to croak out.

Greg looked up from the machine and smirk manically, "he needs information, and I need revenge, its win-win really."

"What information?" the blonde asked carefully, she was legitimately afraid that she wouldn't be strong enough to withstand the electrical torture, and she had no doubt that this information would be something that these two morons should never know.

Neal finally unhitched himself from the wall, and approached the metal table, "where is the trigger?"

Emma furrowed her brow, and replied, "why?"

"Travelling to the past has clearly worked out for you," he said almost to himself, "I wouldn't pass up a chance to save my son from corruption."

"Corruption?...magic?" Emma choked out, knowing that 'magic' actually meant Regina.

"If we stayed together, she wouldn't have adopted him, you would never have come to Storybrooke, and Henry will be safe from..." the man quickly trailed off, realising that he was revealing too much, and added, "we could have raised him in Tallahassee."

Emma returned with a venomous look, and replied, "you can change the past all you want, but I would still somehow have ended up in Storybrooke, it's my...destiny."

"Well I would just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, now are you going to tell me?"

"No," she said adamantly.

"You could be happy," he said almost pleadingly.

"I'm already happy."

"You won't be if you're electrocuted to death!" Neal roared, and turned on his heels to leave.

"Where are you going?" Greg asked with a furrowed brow.

"I'm going to 'help' with the search parties, just get the information."

Greg nodded to accept the order, and as soon as he slammed the cabin door shut he closed his eyes against the scream of utter pain tearing through the structure.

* * *

Regina sat at the Charming's kitchen counter, and rolled her eyes at the pacing owners.

"You're being quite unhelpful," she commented.

"How can you be so calm!" Snow glowered, "our daughter...your girlfriend is missing!"

"We'll find her, all we need is a locator spell," Regina sighed, and brought the coffee up to her lips. Though she was trying to maintain her calm facade, she knew that if Emma was gone for long, she wouldn't be able to keep it together for long.

The front door opened, revealing Cora who offered her daughter a tentative smile, and placed the blue potion on the counter after she approached the kitchen.

"What did Gold want in return?" David asked with a furrowed brow.

"Don't worry about that," she replied, and received a questioning look from Regina, but she found herself unable to care.

"Mom!" Henry shouted, as he his way down the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked, feeling distinct foreboding creeping upon her.

"We looked all over Emma's room: all her stuff is gone!" he announced and ran into her arms for a reassuring hug.

Regina looked despairingly at the useless locator spell, and sighed deeply, "how would you two not know that someone broke into your apartment?"

David shrugged, biting his fingernail in worry, as the door opened once again, this time to reveal Neal.

"Have you found her yet?" he asked, sounding almost desperate.

Regina released Henry from the hug, and turned to the man that she had the urge to punch again, just to make herself feel even slightly better.

"We had a minor setback," she said evenly.

"Minor setback?" Snow asked incredulously, "how can you be so calm? Do you not even care?!"

The younger woman quickly clamped her hand over her mouth, "oh God Regina, I didn't mean..."

Regina held up her hand, and raised to a standing position, and stalked closer to her former-stepdaughter, who fearfully took steps back.

"I am trying to actually find her rather than pacing back and forth in your kitchen. How dare you accuse me of not caring, simply because I do not display my emotions for the world to see like you two idiots. I love Emma and I would cross any realm to save her, is that clear princess?"

Snow nodded, with a small squeak of fear and Regina finally took a step back.

"Do you have a plan then?" David asked, hopefully.

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose, before her eyes fell upon a blonde strand of hair on her blazer. Plucking it off, she said, "call Little Red Riding Hood."

* * *

Emma's back arched off the metal table as wave after wave of electricity tore through her body. She heard a strangled scream come from a seemingly far away place, and she was vaguely aware that it was her own voice.

She recognised someone smashing the button next to her head, and the a few more jolts, her body relaxed back onto the table, but the all consuming pain remained. But still all she could think about was that Regina had to go through the same exact thing.

"Ready to talk yet?" Greg asked, his voice dripping with smugness.

Emma considered this for a moment, they had been at this for hours and she had tried as best she could to stay with the fact that she didn't know, so Greg was now asking how he could find out, and Emma knew that the answer was Henry's story book. That meant that admitting the truth was not an option, so as she had been doing each time she was given a brief respite from the torture, she shook her head refusing to meet the man's gaze.

"Who are you protecting?" Greg growled, "is being with the Evil Queen really worth this?"

Emma finally turned to face him, and replied, "there is nothing you could do that would make me stop fighting for her."

"How romantic," he cooed mockingly, "but I do wonder how she would deal with the death of her loved one. I hear she doesn't have the best track record with that kind of thing."

Emma's eyes widened and she almost growled, "Neal told you everything that Henry told him."

"Anger will get you no where saviour,"he chuckled, and moved away from his seat next to the blonde.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a hoarse voice.

"Looking for a more effective means of torture," he said casually, and Emma vaguely recognised the flipping of a switchblade.

The blonde's eyes widened, and she felt sweat move down her already severely burned temples, "please don't," she said weakly, desperately trying not to notice how pathetic she sounded.

"Is the great and powerful saviour really afraid of tiny little blade," he laughed.

Emma tried to squirm away from him as he got closer, only succeeding in causing pain to shoot through her arms from where her shoulders were attached to the wires.

 _"Come on Swan, are you really scared of this?" The teen asked the quivering nine year old._

 _"Please leave me alone," she cried and huddled further into the corner._

 _"You need to be toughened up, you'll never survive the system acting like a pathetic little baby," he taunted, gaining a grunt of agreement from his brother._

 _With the encouragement, he flipped the switch blade and knelt in front of her, holding out the handle to her, "if you want to be one of us, you have yo do it," he said pointing towards the scared eight year old, otherwise known as the newest addition to the group home. "Even you have the scar Swan, now you need to give him his."_

 _Emma looked down at the jagged scar running up her forearm, and was reminded that it was only that long because 'she struggled.' Remembering the pain she suffered before it healed, she adamantly shook her head, "I won't do it."_

 _"Well then you know the rules," he glowered, grabbing her arm._

 _She cried out as he sliced another long, deep cut into her arm, and the only response that she received was the sound of someone turning up the TV._

Emma felt the four scars, one for her 'initiation', one from when she took another's place, and two from the guilt of not, burn for the first time in years. She had spent a good deal of time trying to forget the stupidly violent rituals that some of her foster homes had, in fact the only person she had ever told was Neal, and she had considered telling Regina but she 'hadn't gotten to it yet.'

Swallowing hard, she tried to remind herself that she had killed a dragon, ogres and managed to maintain a functional relationship with the Evil Queen, she certainly shouldn't have been afraid of a little blade. Clearly however, Neal had told him how to get to her, as the man went straight for her right arm, with the faded scars that could only be seen if one was to search for them intently.

"Tell me," Greg growled as he ran the blade across her skin, much deeper than necessary.

Emma closed her eyes against the tears, and desperately tried to fight off the thoughts of the terrified orphan who had cut herself for not being brave enough to go against the older kids. The nights after she had been forced to hurt the new kids, she had heard them crying as she had done.

She knew it was irrational, but the familiar pain made her feel helpless. Like she no longer had a family that loved her and were undoubtedly looking for her right now, like she no longer was strong enough to fight anything that came her way. The memory seemed to have taken the saviour out of her, and as many more like it flashed through her mind she found more like lost little girl than ever before.

She finally opened her eyes, and saw Greg smiling manically holding up the blade, and noticed the little tint of green under her blood.

"I thought you're supposed to be against magic," she choked out.

Greg shrugged and inspected the remnants of the potion that Neal had given him, "Neal's job gives us access, and you can't argue with results. What's the harm of using it once in the aim of its destruction?"

"Why would you want to destroy magic?" Emma asked, trying to distract herself form reminiscence charm that was currently digging up her most deeply repressed memories.

"Because it destroyed my childhood," he growled.

Emma sighed dramatically, and replied, "oh would you get over it?"

Greg narrowed his eyes, and she explained herself, "I was put in a wardrobe as a baby and sent to another world so that I could come back after twenty eight shit years and break some curse. But I'm happy now, you just need to let things go."

"If you're as good at letting things go as you claim, then why are your memories turning you into a shivering nervous wreck?" He mocked as he picked up another phial of green liquid. "Perhaps you would enjoy a longer trip down memory lane?"

Emma took a deep breath, feeling utterly weak, she shook her head in the negative.

"Are you going to tell me what I want to know then?" He asked while re-coating the blade in the potion.

She shook her head again, and he brought the blade down to her neck this time, "is this really worth the fight? Do you honestly not believe that you could be happy with Neal?"

"He is not the Neal that I knew," she choked out, trying to move away from the blade, and instead feeling it slightly digging into her skin, not quite yet breaking it.

"You wouldn't know the difference."

"It would still be a lie," she replied, her resolve audibly weakening by the second.

"Why?" he scoffed.

"Because he's not Regina," Emma ground out.

Greg rolled his eyes and brought the blade closer, this time actually breaking the skin.

- _'Nobody needs you."_

 _-"Not even your parents wanted you."_

 _-"You're worthless."_

"Henry's book, it's in his book."

Greg bought the blade back, and began tutting, "how despicable, endangering your own child."

The blonde's chest heaved as tears streamed down her face.

Approaching the machine, he continued, "looks like your use is up."

"Neal wouldn't want you to kill me," she tried.

"I would have thought that you of all people would understand time travel, he promised that I could get my revenge, and the look on her face when she realises she's too late to save you is all I need."

 **A/N Had a spark of inspiration so this was kind of an extra chapter for this week, the next one will be on Saturday XD**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed and would love to hear what you think**


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter forty eight

Ruby fell back against the couch with an audible sigh, she looked up and shrank back slightly under the expectant gazes of Snow White and Prince Charming.

"I couldn't get the scent, the hair was covered in something, I think it was hairspray or something," she explained.

"Emma doesn't wear hairspray," Snow protested.

Ruby shrugged and with an exasperated sigh explained again, "I got the hair from Neal like Regina told me to and then I couldn't get a scent."

Neal nodded in agreement from his place at the kitchen counter and said, "have you not thought about the fact that she doesn't want to be found?"

"What?" David asked incredulously.

"She did run away a lot, maybe the commitment freaked her out and she took off. I mean all of her stuff is gone."

"She wouldn't leave," Snow said adamantly.

"How would you know? How long have you known her..." he was cut off when David launched forward with a drawn fist, only to be grabbed by his wife.

"He's not worth it, let's focus on finding her," she said as calmly as possible, and no one in the room bothered mentioning that the princess had finally listened to her former stepmother.

"Speaking of which, where is Regina?" Neal asked, having not even moved from his seat under the threat of attack, "I would have thought that she would have at least been helping."

"She said she has something important to do, to make sure everyone stays safe in the future," Snow shrugged, she really couldn't care less at the moment as long as Regina was doing something to help Emma in the long run.

Neal sighed dramatically and turned around to face the kitchen island, his smile dropped and he considered whether he would have to do something to stop the queen from making his plans completely fall apart.

* * *

Henry watched his mother curiously as she read over some forms for the tenth time, and finally he asked, "how does this help Emma?"

Regina looked up from her desk, seemingly shocked that anyone was in the room, despite the fact that she had told Henry to come home with her.

"I assume you know the way that this originally happened," she sighed, hoping that she wouldn't have to explain one of the most painful, or at least physically painful, things that had happened to her in Storybrooke.

Henry nodded solemnly, he had been tempted to skip over that part of the book, but something made him read all of it, and now he just wished that he could forget every word he had read, "Greg and Tamara...hurt you and you admitted what you did to his father or something."

Regina smiled sadly and held up the forms, the name 'Kurt Flynn' standing out among the other words, "in the original timeline, he died before Emma broke the curse."

Henry furrowed his brow, and asked, "how did he die?"

Regina's throat constricted as she thought about the moment she had received the news that the man she had locked up for eighteen years had managed to commit suicide with a makeshift rope he had somehow made. The nurse of the institute under the hospital had been completely distraught and she had somehow managed to hide her sorrow under her usual masks, and frankly the fact that she had was beginning to make her feel sick.

"Trust me you don't want to know."

Henry looked like he was about to protest, before he realised the implications of her words, "so he's alive now?"

Regina nodded and finally signed the form, "yes and I think it's about time that he was released."

Henry nodded and then grabbed the phone that had interrupted their conversation and handed it to his mother, "hello?" she sighed.

"Ruby couldn't get a scent," came through the device without pretence.

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose, she was sure that they would have found Emma by now, and that she could bring Greg's father to the station which would make the man back down.

"Are there any other options?" she asked through gritted teeth, desperately trying to maintain the calm that she had been so adamant about people keeping throughout this dire situation.

"We were hoping that you would have an idea," he replied, a slight edge to the father's voice.

Regina shook her head and then realised that the prince was unable to see her, so she said, "give me some time."

David agreed and hung up the phone, and Regina instantly dropped her head into her hands.

Henry walked over to his mother, and brought his arms around her comfortingly, "you'll find her mom," he assured.

Regina nodded and brought her arm around his small shoulders, "I suppose I'm not as used to hope as you are," she laughed sadly.

"You're in love with the saviour," came from the doorway of the study, "I believe that hope is an obligation."

Regina looked over to see her mother smiling tentatively at her daughter and grandson, and she visibly relaxed when Regina smiled back.

Cora came closer to the pair and held up the locator spell, "I was thinking that she may have left something of hers here."

Regina's eyes widened, _how could I have been so foolish?_ She had constantly told Emma off for leaving her things strewn across her bedroom, and had eventually given her a drawer to keep them in.

"Go," Cora laughed and handed her the potion, "I'll take Henry back to his grandparents."

Regina nodded, Cora turned to exit the study, and the mayor called, "mother..." she turned around and looked at her daughter expectantly. In that moment, Regina knew that there were many things that she needed to tell her mother, but this certainly wasn't the time for a heart to heart, she could try and air her emotions when she had her girlfriend back. It was for this reason that she just said, "thank you."

Cora smiled broadly at the words, it was honestly more than she could have hoped for, "you're welcome dear, now go and find your saviour."

* * *

Regina tore the drawer open, and had to stifle a sob when she found it to be empty.

She was seriously beginning to consider the fact that Emma had just up and left, maybe she wasn't as comfortable with the idea of actually having a functional life as she had appeared to be.

She searched her memory for any sign that the blonde had been planning to leave, but she could find none. Emma had seemed legitimately happy.

She had begun spending more time with her parents, almost calling Snow 'mom' on a few occasions before going red with embarrassment and refusing to mention that it had ever happened. She spent as much time as possible at the mansion without making it seem as if she were neglecting her parents, and Henry had become happier by the day, Regina thought it was because he finally had his full family. She knew that this fact should have bothered her, but she was an integral part of his family, with the saviour holding everything together, the former Evil Queen had finally found her true happy ending, and she refused to have it taken away from her.

So in desperation, she began to violently tear open the other drawers, only to find her things. By the end of the rampage, her room was in a mess, but only with her possessions. Heavily she fell onto the bed, and put her head in her hands, and stared into the open closet with some tears falling down her cheeks. She knew that her old mother would have used this to prove that love was weakness, and in a way she was beginning to agree, if only in this moment. This pathetic feeling of uselessness was certainly a sign of weakness to the former queen, but the feeling of empowerment and happiness when she was with her girlfriend, proved that her mother's life long teachings had been the result of a warped view of the world, she had no doubt that her mother may never had experienced true romantic love, she certainly never loved Henry Sr.

Her eyes fell down to the floor, and she instantly furrowed her brow when she saw a thin line of red in her washing hamper. She knew that she did own some red clothes, but she often favoured blues and blacks and honestly she couldn't remember the last time she had worn that colour, even though she now considered one of her favourites, more specifically when a certain idiot wore it.

Jumping up, she tipped the hamper onto the floor, and let out a half sob, half laugh when the red jacket fell onto the floor surrounded by her own laundry.

Picking it up, she hugged it close to her body, and chuckled when she remembered shouting at Emma for leaving leather all over her house. _She must have shoved it in here when she heard me coming,_ she thought while smiling fondly.

Producing the potion from her pocket, she was about to pour it on the saviour's iconic jacket, before she changed her mind, and picked up her phone.

"Regina?" was her answer after one ring, "is everything okay?"

"Yes mother, can you come and help me?" she asked after a deep steeling breath.

Her reply came in the form of billowing smoke, her mother materialised a moment later, "what do you need?"

Regina smiled, deciding she definitely liked the idea of having a mother, and held up the jacket, "help me find her."

* * *

"Please stop!" Emma screamed, the voltage now higher than any normal human could survive.

 _Maybe being the saviour means I can take more?_ She pondered, and decided that if that were true then it just meant that she had to suffer more.

"Well if you would just die than I will stop," Greg growled and finally turned the dial to the highest setting.

Emma felt darkness beginning to cling to the sides of her mind, and dazedly she looked around the room where her loved ones would find her dead.

Greg was about to hit the button, before they were both distracted by a sharp intake of breath.

The blonde turned her head, and had to close her eyes for a moment against the pain, before she opened them and saw her four saviours. Her parents, Cora and of course Regina, who caught the floating red jacket as it fell from its floating position.

Her father brandished a gun, clearly ready to shoot the man that had tortured his daughter, while her mother held her hand over her mouth for a moment of shock.

Emma cast her eyes down to her body, and saw the copious amounts of blood, since Greg had decided to cut her a few more times before he continued with the electricity, and then she imagined that she must be covered in some pretty severe burns.

Through her grogginess, she counted the number of people a few more times, before the issue clocked in her mind.

"H-Henry?" she managed to choke out.

Regina instantly furrowed her brow, and answered the question, "Neal is looking after him."

Emma took deep heaving breaths, she desperately wanted to tell Regina to go back and protect their son, but everything hurt deeply and her voice box felt almost broken, "n-" she managed, before without warning Greg lunged forward and mashed his hand against the button.

Massive volts of electricity began to course their way through the blonde's body. Her back arched off the table, and she finally felt everything going black as she had been wishing to happen for the past six hours.

Just before, however, she heard a gunshot and someone dropping heavily to the ground.

* * *

Henry sat hunched over his book, attentively reading while Neal bade goodbye to Ruby, who had been sent to release Kurt Flynn from his incarceration. The only other sound was the roaring fire, that was the only thing cutting through the freezing Maine winter.

Finally the door shut, and Neal turned on his son, eyeing the book intently.

As casually as possible, he made his way over to him and sat down next to him, "what're you reading?"

Henry looked up at his father; he was still irritated that he had been told to stay behind, though he secretly knew he was too young, that didn't stop him from having fantasies of heroism.

"You know what it is," he muttered, and continued to turn the pages.

Neal nodded awkwardly and said, "can I see it then?"

"Why?" Henry muttered, looking up at the man distrustfully, he didn't know why but he felt something was different about him since his humiliation at the diner.

"Who wouldn't be interested in an alternate timeline?" Neal laughed nervously.

Henry narrowed his eyes and replied, "I already told you stuff about it, shouldn't you be more worried about Emma?"

Neal swallowed hard, and then said, "of course I am, I'm trying to distract myself. Isn't that what you're doing?"

The boy tilted his head and answered "I'm double checking what happened last time just encase they don't find her."

"Well then let me help you," Neal insisted, trying to grab the book, but the boy snapped it away. "Henry," he tried to scold, but it didn't have the same effect as his mother's disciplines.

"I got this," he said petulantly, "why don't you go and do something else."

Neal furrowed his brow and snatched the book out of his hands.

"Hey," Henry protested trying to take it back but Neal stood and starting flicking through it, "trust me kid, it will be better this way."

"What would be better?" Henry whined, giving up on trying tograb the book since he wasn't tall enough to even attempt to get it back.

"I go back in time and stop Emma from giving you up, all I need is the trigger," he mumbled almost to himself.

Henry's eyes widened, the basic that he got from his father's plan was that he wanted to take him away from Regina.

In a split second, he made his decision and kicked Neal in the knee as hard as possible. The man coiled over slightly and Henry snatched the book, throwing it into the fire.

Neal stared at the smouldering paper for a moment, and after a second anger contorted his face and he picked up Henry by the lapels of his jacket.

"Well then I suppose there's only one place that I can get the information from," he growled.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed :)**

 **Need to thank Quindecim for helping out again XD**

 **I also forgot to mention last time, Tutu Pele is looking for a beta, they ship both OQ and SQ and is willing to have a beta for each ship, but would prefer someone who also ships both (they are currently leaning more towards SQ at the moment and planning their first SQ fic) if anyone is interested either pm them or me if you can't find them and I will put you in touch. I would really appreciate anyone willing to help out since I was unable to XD**

 **I would love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter, so please review if you want to XD**


	49. Chapter 49

**A/N Hey guys I decided to focus this week on Back to the Start, hopefully there should be an update everyday (except Thursday and Sunday, unless you guys would want me to go back to shorter chapters for those days) anyway I hope you guys enjoy this week XD**

Chapter forty nine

As soon as the gun shot sounded, Snow jumped forward and slammed her hand against the machine that was causing her daughter immeasurable pain.

Her convulsing body dropped to the table, with an audible slapping against the metal.

The only sound in the room was the whimpering of Greg, as each other conscious people stood quietly around the unmoving saviour.

Eventually, Regina brought two fingers against the pulse point that she had felt weaken not that long ago in the Enchanted Forest. This time, however, there wasn't even a flutter, no indication that there was even the slightest spark of life. Regina swallowed hard, finally allowing the silent tears that she had been holding back since she had called the station all those hours ago, to fall. Desperately, she began to shift her finger around to try and discover that she simply had the wrong spot, but not matter where she placed her fingers.

A cry tore through Snow's mouth when she saw Regina's reaction, she covered her mouth with both hands and fell into her husband's shoulder, making him promptly bring his arm around her small frame. The prince stared stoically at his unmoving daughter, he imagined all the things he never got to do. He never got to interrogate her dates (which admittedly would have been less satisfying with saviours very much unafraid girlfriend), he never got to teach her how to sword fight and most importantly he had never gotten to protect her.

Regina felt a hand on her shoulder and slowly withdrew her hand from the saviour's neck, and tuned to her mother who simply nodded in understanding, knowing there were no words that would help at this moment.

Snow looked up from David's shoulder and sniffled sadly, seemingly completely out of anger for the day, "please do something Regina."

Regina stared at Emma for a moment, and moving a strand of blonde hair away from her face asked weakly, "what?"

Snow took deep breaths, desperately trying to cling to hope, and then furrowed her brow at Cora, who was looking intently at the machine.

The woman finally realised that she was being watched and looked up at the princess questioningly.

"You have an idea," Snow said almost accusingly.

Cora looked between everyone in the room and sighed, "it may not work."

"What is it?" Regina asked.

Cora almost felt herself crumble at the desperation and hope in her daughters voice, and took a deep steeling breath, figuring at the very least it couldn't make things worse.

"This comes from a very basic understanding of your medicine, but I believe that your doctors use electrical pads similar to those to start a persons heart."

Regina blinked a few times, and tore the pads away from the blonde's temples and shoulders. Waving her hand, Emma's jacket and shirt disappeared, leaving her in a sports bra, and she promptly places them where the many medical books she has read during the time loop had instructed.

"Turn it to 200," she instructed, and Charming did so without question, and Snow began pumping on her daughter's chest, thanking God that the curse has taught her CPR.

Before he pressed the button, Regina tore the magic repressing band from the love's arm, and allowed some of their magic to mingle together as she desperately wished for this to work.

She nodded and Snow pressed the button after a small hesitation, quickly turning it off as instructed.

They repeated this three times, each time with bated breaths between attempts.

After the third, Snow was about to press the button again, but David grabbed her arm and shook his head. As hard as the thought of his daughter dying was, he knew that Snow would regret doing this to her body forever.

"Snow," he said sadly.

Snow was about to tear her arm away when someone said in a hoarse voice, "please listen to him."

Snow's eyes widened, and she turned to the table, where the blonde was struggling to keep her eyes open, but was clearly very much alive.

"Emma," she said gleefully, her gut wrenched slightly as she finally noticed the injuries, but the fact that she was alive would have to be enough for now.

Emma offered a smile as best she could to reassure her parents, and then turned to Regina, visibly wincing as she did so.

"Henry…" She began, very obviously trying to not lose consciousness like last time.

Regina took the blonde's hand which seemed to calm her down slightly.

"He's fine, it's you we need to worry about," she breathed, relief clear on her face.

The blonde felt darkness beginning to climb to the sides of her mind, and interrupted Regina telling Snow to call Whale, "Neal kidnapped me."

Regina's eyebrows shot up, and without warning they were all enveloped in smoke.

The mayor looked around to see the Charming's wearing similar expressions, with Emma on a stretcher and two nurses running towards the magical new arrivals.

She deflated and fell into a seat, instantly seeing who was missing, and whispered to herself, "thank you mother."

* * *

"Drink this," Neal prompted, holding out a phial of clear liquid, otherwise known as Truth Serum.

Henry shook his head, and leaned away from his father in his position tied to one of the dining chairs. He was beginning to think that this was happening far too often, but he just took a deep breath and tried to maintain a fearless facade.

"You don't have to drink it if you just tell me," Neal growled, and pulled the stopper of in way of threatening the boy.

"I'm not telling you," he replied adamantly, "I like the way things are now, I don't want you to change them."

"Well I don't," Neal said through gritted teeth, "do you think I enjoy seeing Emma happy with her?"

Henry furrowed his brow, and asked, "what did you do to Emma?"

Neal's face contorted in pain for a split second and he avoided eye contact as he said, "it doesn't matter."

"How can it not matter?" Henry cried.

"Because the moment I have the trigger, it will never had happened. She won't remember what I did to her, both of you will think of me as part of your family."

"You could have been part of our family! You just had to be patient," Henry argued, desperately trying to fight against the rope binding his forearms to the chair.

"I spent centuries alone in Neverland, all because my father chose magic over me. Do you really think that I have any patience left?"

"It will be a lie!"

"And I can live with that as long as I finally get everything I want. I'll have Emma and you, living in a world without magic. It sounds pretty perfect to me," he sneered, and grabbed the boy's hair, tilting his head back. "Now are you going to do as I say?"

Henry shook his head, keeping his mouth tightly closed, little tears very clearly pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Neal was about to reach out and force his son's mouth open, when he suddenly found himself unable to move.

Henry opened his eyes and blinked a few times at the light purple shimmer surrounding his severely pissed off father.

Looking past him he expected to see his mother, and was about to say a relieved 'thank you', only for the words to die on his lips when he saw Cora Mills retracting her hand from casting the spell.

He hadn't really had the chance to spend much time with his grandmother, and he had noticed the way that Regina stood in front of him whenever her mother was around. Things had been going so well for him and his now extended family, that he hadn't given much thought to it at the time, but he now saw the truth. Regina was afraid of her mother for reasons that he was sure he wouldn't discover until he was much older, and she didn't trust her around her son, despite her supposed redemption. He imagined that after this, however, Cora may have made some progress, perhaps even earning the right to have a actual conversation with her daughter, rather than the stilted explanations of the workings of this world that he had witnessed thus far.

Neal managed to turn his head, and scowled at the magic user that had ruined his plan, finally realising that he had spent too much time looking for the truth serum.

With his plan seemingly foiled, he had one question that he had to ask, "Emma?"

Cora clenched her fist, desperately trying to remind herself that this was Gold's son, and that she would lose one of her only friends should she do exactly what she was imagining. But she also couldn't get the image of Regina's face as she searched for the saviour's pulse.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over and pulled the chair away from Neal, and then set about untying Henry.

"She'll live," she replied without looking at him, and the added a mental _hopefully,_ when she saw Henry's smile at the news.

Once the boy was free, she rounded on his father considered her options. The highest on her list was a heart rip, but she managed to convince herself that would scar her grandson for life. Finally she settled on something that would make Emma proud, and punched him square across the face. When she released him from her spell, he fell the ground unconscious.

Henry peeked around his grandmother, and despite the situation he let out a little laugh, "he's always getting punched isn't he?"

Cora smirked and turned to face the boy, "he deserves it."

Henry nodded in agreement, and after a short pause, he launched forward to hug her, mumbling "thank you," against her blazer.

Cora brought her hand up, and sighed contently as she softly placed it on his shoulder, not a complete hug, but it was certainly progress for the former Queen of Hearts, "you're welcome."

* * *

Purple smoke billowed in the hospital waiting room, and before anyone could register their surprise, Henry launched forward to hug Regina, his shoulders shaking as he finally allowed his terrified tears to fall while in his mother's arms.

Without a second thought, Regina brought her arms tightly around him and she looked questioningly at her mother.

"Neal is in the holding cell," she assured, and Regina let out a relieved sigh, she had only been waiting with the Charmings for about ten minutes but it had felt like hours. Not only was she waiting for Whale to return with her girlfriend's prognosis, she had also been agonising over whether she should go and help her mother, and now she was glad to see that she had made the right choice.

She offered her mother a smile which was quickly returned, and then she turned her attention to her son, pulling back slightly so she could see his face.

"You're safe," she whispered, and he nodded instantly.

"What about Emma?"

Regina looked over his shoulder hoping that Whale would appear, and when he didn't she sighed and explained, "she was...hurt, but Doctor Whale is looking after her now, so she'll be better in no time."

Henry thought about asking what 'hurt' meant, but for once he decided that he didn't need to know every detail. His mother wasn't lying to him, she was just protecting him from the full painful truth, and that was certainly something that he could live with, he was a child after all.

The boy smiled weakly and sat on the seat next to his mother, instantly leaning his head on her shoulder and she brought her hand around his shoulder placing a small kiss on his temple.

"Er Regina?" someone said somewhat timidly.

Said woman looked up from her son, to see the never shy waitress holding papers with a familiar man behind her.

Regina took a moment to inspect Kurt Flynn; he looked infinitely older, eighteen years older to be exact. His face should have been contorted in anger, but instead he just looked confused, Regina tried to push aside the guilt, and lightly tapped Henry so he sat up.

She quickly whispered that she would be right back and made her way over to the wolf and the man behind her.

She awkwardly smiled at Kurt and he just returned with a blank expression, before he finally asked in a deceptively mellow voice, "where is my son?"

Regina exchanged a look with Ruby who offered a nod of encouragement, and the mayor pointed to the room where she had reluctantly asked for Greg to be treated for his gunshot wound.

Without any further questions, he almost moved at inhuman speeds towards the hospital room, finally stopping at the threshold. Regina watched as the man that she had taken everything away from let out a ragged breath.

"What happened to him?" Kurt asked, finally rounding on the mayor with pure hatred overtaking his features, though he did deflate a little when he saw no fear returned in the woman's eyes, only regret.

"He was trying to take revenge for what I did by hurting someone I care for deeply, he had to be stopped, but Gre...Owen will be fine."

Kurt turned back and looked at his little boy, finding it hard to believe that he would ever take revenge on anyone, "you're lying," he muttered.

Regina clenched her jaw, she knew that she owed this man and his son a lot, but she certainly didn't owe him the safety of her girlfriend.

"He tortured the woman I love, she is currently in surgery for third degree burns and possible brain damage because he spent six hours electrocuting her. I understand that I have wronged both of you, but believe me when I tell you he is lucky that all he got was a bullet to the leg, now if you wish for it to remain that way, I suggest you wait for your son to wake up, while I go and do the same for my girlfriend."

Kurt nodded fearfully and Regina turned on her heels, finally making her way back to the waiting room having gotten Ruby to agree to watch the pair closely.

* * *

Hours later, Regina, Snow and David sat in the waiting room, Cora having taken Henry back to the mansion.

The saviour's parents had been uncharacteristically quiet during the entire wait, with Snow just leaning her head on her husband's shoulder, and Regina was beginning to wish that they would say something just to distract her from the oppressive wait. Mentally she took a deep breath, realising that for her to wish that meant that things were truly dire, and finally she heard a door open. For the hundredth time three heads snapped towards the source of the sound, and finally this time it wasn't a nurse.

The three royals almost jumped out of their seats, meeting Whale halfway across the waiting room, and he offered them a tight smile.

"The surgery went well, but..." he took a deep breath trying to figure out the best way to break the news.

"But?" Snow paled, beginning to run through the many scenarios in her mind, none of them good.

Whale bit his lip and replied, "she's alive. I stitched up all of the lacerations, so she'll need to come back in three weeks to have them removed. I'm prescribing some creams that should prevent the burns from scarring..."

Regina held up her hand, and said, "what is it Whale?"

Whale sighed and finally admitted, "the electricity had damaged her Central Nervous System."

"Meaning?" Charming asked insistently.

"She's paralysed from the waist down."

Regina, Snow and David each looked stunned for a moment, before Regina finally asked, "permanently?" she was already beginning to imagine that the very active sheriff wouldn't deal with this very well, all she could hope was that it was temporary.

Whale shook his head, happy to finally give some positive news, even if it was surrounded by a pretty crappy situation, "she had slight feeling, so with regular physiotherapy she should regain normal function, there's no telling how long that would take though, so she'll need a caretaker."

Regina began running through all of the places in her house that were not wheelchair accessible and what exact spells could change that, however her thoughts were interrupted when he handed some forms to Snow.

"I already talked to Emma and she said that she wants her parents to be her official carers until such time as she can regain full independence."

Snow exchanged a looked with Regina, looking just as dumbfounded as the brunette felt.

"What about Regina?" she squeaked, feeling infinitely guilty for the fact that she was even slightly happy that she got to finally look after her daughter.

Whale shrugged, "I assumed that she would ask for Regina, but she said that she would feel more comfortable with her parents."

Regina blinked a few times, feeling utterly ridiculous for taking this as some kind of rejection, her girlfriend had every right to need her parents in this difficult time, she couldn't expect to be the only person that Emma turns to.

"Can we see her?"

Whale shook his head, "I would be prepared to allow visitors in the morning, she just went through a battery of tests, and she's pretty strung out on pain killers. I would suggest making arrangements for wheelchair accessibility though."

Snow sighed as something finally occurred to her, "her bedroom is up stairs and the apartment is on the top floor."

Regina rolled her eyes, and replied, "give your bed to Emma, and I will make all of the arrangements for everything to be accessible."

"Do we have enough time to arrange everything?" Snow asked with a furrowed brow.

"We do if we use my method," Regina said simply, and a small cloud of purple smoke revealed a spell book. "Why don't you two get some sleep, it would appear that you have a lot to do tomorrow," the mayor called as she walked away, desperately trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	50. Chapter 50

**A/N So this is officially Back to the Start week for me XD For this week I will be giving all of my attention to this fic and trying to update everyday. If I do update tomorrow will be a shorter chapter (maybe around 1000 words), since I have work, so please don't blame me if there's no chapter tomorrow, I'll extend it to Monday if not though XD Hope you guys enjoy and thanks for sticking around for fifty chapters :D**

Chapter fifty

 _Emma brought her books closer to her body and began to walk faster having reached the rough part of her current neighbourhood._

 _Her foster parents were nice enough, but they were both super busy with their jobs and often failed to notice the cuts and bruises that the fourteen year old received from local bullies and she had learned long ago that she shouldn't show them that she has issues. Most of her foster parents seemed to prefer a kid that they could just kind of ignore, and honestly as long as they were feeding her and not hitting her, she was happy, but it did mean that she had to try and deal with her issues alone._

 _The fourteen year old passed an alleyway and took a deep breath, and looked down it. If she decided to go that way, it would shave twenty minutes off her walk, but it also posed the risk of being randomly ambushed._

 _For about a minute she looked down it and finally decided that it would be worth the risk, especially since her leg hurt from yesterday anyway._

 _Slowly, she began to walk down it, and by the time she was halfway she took a deep breath of relief, beginning to return to her normal rushed pace._

 _However, just before she took another step, her gut wrenched in fear as someone grabbed her backpack and brought her back._

 _Alex smirked at her, he was one of her many bullies, and today he was accompanied by his two moronic friends, each wearing similar idiot smiles._

 _Emma felt herself being pushed against the wall, and took a deep breath to try and make sure he didn't know she was afraid, though it was fairly obvious._

 _Originally Alex had been nothing but nice to her, and eventually Emma had found out that he had a crush on her. The problem was that she had a crush on his sister, and when he found out he made it his mission to make her life a living hell for humiliating him. The worst thing of all was that someone had told the entire school of her crush, including the very straight person that it was aimed at. So now Emma had become a complete social outcast: the school's resident lesbian orphan and she wasn't even sure if she were gay, not that it mattered to her peers._

 _"I told you Swan, there's a toll down here," he sneered._

 _Emma shook her head and replied, "I don't have any money."_

 _Alex tilted his head, and began to speak slowly as if he were speaking to a child, "then you can't come down here, am I not explaining this properly or are you just a idiot?"_

 _"I-I'm sorry, I won't do it again," she said pleadingly._

 _Alex looked to his friends who each shook their heads and he smirked deeply, "you said that last time, Swan, I can't keep letting you get away with it."_

 _Emma bit her lip, trying not to mention that last time he had given her several bruises, and simply just stared at him, clearly begging to be released._

 _"Teach her a lesson, Al," one of his friends said, and he nodded with a grin._

 _The first thing he did was knock the books out of her hands, leaving her completely defenceless, and then he clenched his fist and delivered a blow to her stomach._

 _The young blonde instantly coiled over, falling to ground and letting out small pathetic sounds of pain, the only consolation that it would be over soon. However, Alex seemed to be enjoying the howling laughter too much, and then proceeded to kick her as she tried her best to curl into a ball._

 _This went on for a full two minutes, until she heard a random passerby shout 'hey' and then allowed herself to pass out._

"Emma?" came a soft voice from beside her bed, and the blonde blinked a few times before turning to see her mother with a concerned expression.

Emma offered a small hesitant smile, and looked back down at her legs, "hey," she mumbled.

"Did Whale talk to you?" David asked cautiously.

The saviour nodded, and each of her parents noticed the way that she stared longingly at her legs, David and Snow exchanged a look, both silently assuring the other that they could do this.

"He said that you could be released today," Snow smiled, "is that alright?"

"Yep," she muttered.

Snow held back a sigh, reminding herself to be patient, and to possibly get advice from Archie.

"Do you need anything?" David tried.

Emma closed her eyes in frustration, before a thought occurred to her, "can I see Henry?"

David looked shocked for a moment, and was about to answer, before the door opened revealing exactly who she asked for, followed closely by his other mother.  
Henry ran over to the bed, and smiled broadly at Emma, he handed her a to go cup from Granny's, "Hot chocolate with cinnamon," he explained, and the blonde returned with a weak smile.

"Thanks, kid," she replied, feeling the urge to ruffle his hair, but her arms hurt too much to stretch that far so she just pushed it aside. She wanted to see her son simply to see with her own eyes that he was okay, but now that she was faced with him, she felt infinitely guilty. She was completely ashamed that she had put him in any danger, and she couldn't help but imagine Regina's disappointed expression if she found out.

However, when she looked up at her girlfriend, she saw nothing but sympathy.

Emma quickly looked away from her, she felt the urge to tell Regina that she shouldn't feel sorry for her, that she was too weak to protect their son, that all it took to get the better of her was a tiny nick of the skin. She didn't deserve sympathy from the woman that had just shaken off the same torture.

Regina furrowed her brow, at Emma's reaction to their eye contact.

She couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong. Her first theory was that Emma was bitter that it had taken so long to find her, and honestly she was rather bitter about that herself. She couldn't believe that Neal had somehow managed to take all but one of Emma's belongings and hide them in the cabin with the kidnapped sheriff, she refused to believe that she had been outsmarted by that man, but in her quest to find the blonde, she was beginning to believe that she had been blind to the signs of the criminal within their search party.

Henry smiled awkwardly at his recently found other mother. This was not how he had imagined this would go at all. He had thought that Emma would make some stupid jokes and then Regina would roll her eyes and call the blonde an idiot, but Emma seemed to be completely withdrawn.

He inspected the many bandages across her body, and wished that he would never have to see what was under them, especially since nobody had actually told him what Greg had done to her.

The stifling silence was interrupted when Dr Whale walked in holding a paper bag.

He looked around at each person in the room, and gave them all a tight smile, handing the bag to Snow, "all of the medications have instructions on them, but feel free to call with any questions."

She looked into the bag, and suddenly thought a question though she felt like a moron for asking it, she just had to stop the silence, "where do we get a...err."

Emma hit her head against the pillow, and Snow cringed for asking.

Whale looked at Emma for a moment, and then replied, "The hospital will loan Emma a wheelchair for as long as she needs it."

Regina rolled her eyes at her former stepdaughter and wished that she could smack Snow up the side of her head, but settled for narrowing her eyes at the younger woman.

Whale looked down at his watch, and turned to Emma, "you'll be discharged into your parents care in an hour, I'll set up a check up in a week from now, and then we'll see about starting physiotherapy."

Emma nodded without looking up, and Whale quickly turned on his heels, promptly making his way from the room to collect the paper work.

Silence fell again, and Snow looked at the clock, finally saying, "come on Henry, David and I will give you a ride to school. Regina brought you breakfast, Emma."

The blonde looked up, finally noticing the take out bag, and suddenly felt panic rise at the thought of being left alone with her girlfriend. She was sure that she wouldn't be able to handle the shame, so out of desperation she said something that she knew would make Snow stay, "please...mom, stay."

Snow's mouth fell open slightly and she looked apologetically at Regina before she quickly took a seat next to her daughter.

Regina sighed, and placed the bag onto the table next to Emma, "enjoy," she muttered before she brought her arm around Henry and led him out of the room, the boy just about managing to offer Emma a small wave.

* * *

Henry walked slowly behind his mother, as they solemnly made their way to her Mercedes.

He knew that there was obviously something keeping Emma from wanting to spend time with Regina, and he imagined that his mother was probably imagining reasons that were actually far from the truth.

Finally they were both seated in the car, and Regina furrowed her brow at her contemplative son, "no," she said.

"What?" he asked indignantly.

"No operations."

Henry sighed dramatically, and replied, "how did you know?"

"You always get that look when you're planning something," she shrugged and started the car.

"Well then, why not?" he whined.

"You need to understand, Henry, that Emma is in a lot of pain, physically and emotionally, you can't expect everything to go straight back to normal, we just need to be patient."

"But I want to help her," he sighed.

"I do too, but we can't force her to accept our help, so what we need to do is just wait for her to ask for it," Regina replied, desperately trying to justify to herself why she hadn't fought to stay with Emma. She knew that whenever she needed help she wouldn't have asked anyone, but then again she didn't have Snow White and Prince Charming for parents. Gripping the steering wheel, she came to a stop outside of the school and turned to her son, expecting him to get out.

Instead, he just sat there staring at his lap, "what if she never asks?"

"Then we'll force her," Regina smiled, which caused a huge grin to spread across her son's face.

He quickly nodded in agreement, and leaned forward to kiss his mother on the cheek, "see you later," he said quickly noticing the other kids running towards the school, he realised that he may be slightly late and leapt out of the car.

Once he was out of sight, Regina just sat there for a moment.

She took a deep breath, and picked up her phone at the sound of a text, but sighed deeply when she saw that it was Ruby, simply saying, 'Kurt and Owen want to talk to you.'

Rolling her eyes, she threw the phone onto the seat next to her, and started the car, hoping that this would serve as a distraction from her relationship issues, at least for a little while.

* * *

"Do you need anything else?" Snow asked, sounding almost hopeful after Emma swallowed the last pill for the morning.

Emma shook her head, still rather embarrassed about the way her father had to pick her up to get into bed, and immediately after Snow had called Whale. The doctor had offered to send a nurse over to help show Emma the best way to get in and out of the wheelchair, and her mother had accepted after seeing the blonde's downtrodden expression.

"Emma..." she began, only to be stopped by a raised hand.

"Not the time, Snow," she mumbled feeling the effects of the pain killers starting to kick in, not that she would want to have this conversation yet anyway.

Snow nodded, now realising that the 'mom' thing earlier may have been a one time thing, she closed the curtain separating the bed from the kitchen and walked away. Regina had sound proofed it since she had been aware that Emma would probably be spending a lot of time in the bed, and Snow was beginning to think that she wasn't the right person to be looking her daughter, after all, the mayor clearly knew her better.

Shaking her head against the thought, she fell onto one of the stools in front of the kitchen island, where her husband instantly pushed a mug of coffee towards her.

"She's barely been home an hour," he said softly.

Snow sighed and looked down the counter, "I know, it's just..."

David nodded, and placed his hand over hers, "you don't have to feel bad for wanting to look after her."

His wife looked over her shoulder, and had to remind herself that their daughter couldn't hear her when she said, "this isn't what I had in mind when I thought about looking after her. I thought she would get like a cold or something and I could spend her week making her feel better, but this..."

"I get it," David assured, "we just need to be supportive."

Snow tilted her head and finally decided to air the thoughts that had been bothering her since last night, "or we should convince her to get help from someone else."

"Regina?" David sighed.

"I want to look after her, but I don't think that we're the people that she wants help from."

"But she asked for us, why wouldn't she have just said Regina?" David asked, looking more confused than insulted, he had, after all, been having the same thoughts as his wife.

Snow shrugged, she had been wondering the same thing. Before Emma had gone missing, their relationship had seemed perfect, in fact the blonde couldn't seem to get enough time with her girlfriend, but now she wouldn't even look at her.

Snow almost knew for a fact that Regina had done nothing to earn Emma's distrust, so there was clearly a deeper issue at play. The problem was that she knew Regina very well, which meant that she was very aware that Regina would likely be finding any reason to blame herself for the saviour's distance, and that was certainly something that Emma would regret.

"What do we do?" she sighed.

"We look after our daughter," David said, his confidence seemingly high, "and we wait until she tells us what's really wrong."

* * *

Ruby turned away from the distrustful looks from Owen and Kurt Flynn as soon as she finally heard the signature clicking of heels.

The wolf offered the mayor a tight smile, having already received the news of the saviour's condition from her best friend; she knew this wasn't the best of days to cross the woman.

"Hey Regina," she greeted.

"What do they want?" Regina returned without pretence.

"They said that they want to talk to you," she shrugged.

Regina nodded, and with a sigh she dismissed the waitress with a "thank you."

Slowly, the former queen walked into the room.

Greg, or probably Owen now, no longer looked to be in pain, probably because Regina had asked her mother to stop by and heal his wound.

Regina imagined that it must have come as a shock to wake up to his father, but he seemed to be dealing rather well with it. Then again, this is exactly what he wanted, so she wasn't sure what he wanted of her now that he clearly couldn't get his revenge. Regina thought back to Emma refusing to look at her, and she tried to push past the thoughts that he may have actually succeeded in getting back at her in a way that hurt far more than the torture she had suffered in the other timeline.

For a moment, she just stood in silence at the door, until finally Kurt stood from his seat next to his son, and asked, "are you going to allow us to leave this town?"

Regina tilted her head, she hadn't considered that he was possibly still afraid of her, but then again she did have Graham chase them to the town line, so she had to admit they did have their reasons.

"Of course," she replied.

Kurt looked down at the floor and nodded, "we will be leaving soon then."

"You called me here just to tell me you're leaving?" Regina asked with a furrowed brow, "what if I had said no?"

Kurt shrugged, "you seem different now."  
"That doesn't mean you are forgiven!" Owen finally spoke up, "everyone thought that I was crazy my whole life. Reuniting me with my dad doesn't make that go away!"

Regina nodded; his words instantly reminded her of what she done to Henry since he had found that storybook.

"Perhaps there is a way to make it go away," she said after a small hesitation.

Owen furrowed his brow and said, "What do you mean?"

"It's a simple deal, you leave town and I don't have you arrested for torturing the town sheriff," she replied, still considering whether her plan was wise, this was a man dead set against all things magical after all.

"How would that make it go away?"

"The moment you cross the town line, I can make it so you will never have come to Storybrooke. In your mind you will have never lost your father and you will have never spent a day in the institute."

Kurt's eyes widened and he turned to his son with a pleading look.

"Owen, we could have been happy."

"But it won't be real," Owen said clearly thinking out loud.

"Does it matter? If the illusion is better than the truth, why would you choose reality?" Regina asked.

Owen blinked a few times, he hated to admit it, but the former queen did make a lot of sense, "so what are my options?"

"Either way you are leaving my town Mr Flynn, it's up to you the life you want to have led when you do so."

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	51. Chapter 51

**A/N So as promised here's a shorter chapter for today.**

 **The flashback in this chapter is actually is a altered version of one I wrote for another fic, (The King Of Redemption, Co-authored with QueenApples) so check it out if it piques your interest XD**

 **I thought I should also address some of the disappointment from the last chapter. I want to make it clear that Regina's anger is focused upon Neal and the fact that she is trying to get her redemption will mean that she will be trying to right her wrongs, which involved giving Owen a chance. I hope this makes sense, and I hope anyone that was disappointed will like what comes next XD**

Chapter Fifty-One

 _"Hey Gina," Aalam smirked, "want to help me pick apples?"_

 _Regina looked over the top of the book she had been set to study with a small smirk playing on the twelve-year-olds lips. Since she could remember, Aalam had been her best friend , and more often than not he had served as a distraction from her studies._

 _"You know I can't," she replied and the excitable servant just shook his head and sat next to her._

 _"Your parents have gone into town, my mother said they won't be back till dinner."_

 _Regina threw the book on the desk which was met with a laugh from her friend._

 _"Why do you want to pick apples?" She asked._

 _Aalam furrowed his brow, "have you never done it?"_

 _Regina shook her head, and the boy stood up dramatically._

 _"Let's rectify that shall we, trust me by the end of today you'll love apples more than you would ever have thought."_

 _Regina giggled in disbelief, and proceeded to follow the servant boy to the family orchard._

 _Two hours of climbing trees and picking the best apples later, the two walked towards the kitchen with two baskets of the best the Mills family estate had to offer._

 _"You know this means that I'll be behind on my studies now," Regina sighed._

 _"You had fun for once so who cares?"_

 _"I care deeply," an unexpected voice interrupted._

 _Each child's face dropped instantly and Aalam cringed._

 _Turning in a somewhat comical way, they each came face to face with a very angry Cora._

 _"Mother," Regina choked out fearfully, "you're early."_

 _Cora narrowed her eyes at the girl, "then please forgive me," she replied sardonically._

 _Regina swallowed hard as she realised her folly, "I'm sorry mother, I just meant-"_

 _Cora help up her hand to silence her and continued,"For this clear insubordination you must be punished."_

 _Regina paled and Aalam felt guilt stab at his gut, "please ma'am-" he began, and Cora looked at him as if she only just realised that he were there._

 _"Run along boy," she said dismissively._

 _Regina gave Aalam a slight nod of encouragement, but he simply shook his head, "please ma'am, this was my idea. She was studying before I convinced her to abandon the book."_

 _Cora inspected him again, this time much more critically, "and which one are you?"_

 _"Aalam, I'm the cook's son."_

 _Cora raised her eyebrow at the boy, "okay Aalam and what would you have me do to resolve this situation?"_

 _"Errr...you should punish me instead of Regina," he said, though his confidence seemed to waver._

 _Regina blanched at her friend, she was sure that nothing could possibly prepare him for her mother's brand of punishment._

 _Cora looked between the two children, "I suppose that would only be fair," she began as she did a small pace back and forth. "Clearly I cannot have staff who endeavour to distract my daughter from her studies, would you prefer I deliver the news to your mother or do you wish to."_

 _Regina's eyes widened as the implications of her mother's words registered, and in a moment of bravery she said, "please mother, Aalam is my friend."_

 _Cora raised her eyebrow, and inspected the boy intently, "I would like to believe that my daughter could do better," she sighed, "yet another reason that he must leave. I cannot be in fear of you falling behind in your studies each time I leave the estate, you must have no distraction, and clearly this boy is more trouble than he's worth."_

 _Regina looked down at the floor, unable to think of a reasonable retort and just simply nodded._

 _"_ _I expect you to leave this property by dusk," Cora announced, and then proceeded to grab Regina by the back of her dress and drag her back to the library, the girl got one last look at her friend before she would never see him again._

* * *

Regina sat at her desk desperately trying to think of something that she could do.

Owen and his father had finally accepted her offer and they were probably off somewhere being a happy little family, while she wallowed in misery.

The worst thing of all was that she couldn't exactly place what made her most miserable. There was, of course, the fact that her girlfriend wanted nothing to do with her, and she had yet to find out why, and then there was her mother.

She wasn't even sure what the exact issue was.

Cora had clearly become a better woman, she had saved both Emma and Henry, and she had done everything that Regina had asked of her with no catches or back handed deals. But she couldn't help but think back to Greg's words from the previous day. Cora's actions didn't make everything from her haunted past just go away.

It all began when she had Aalam taken from her, which hurt enough, but then not five years later, her mother literally crushed her loves heart. Also she wasn't sure whether the fact that she saved Henry and Emma changed the fact that the woman had kidnapped her son, and put a death curse on the other.

Regina let out a frustrated sigh, and pulled a random form towards her, but as much as she tried she couldn't focus on its words, only vaguely recognising that it was in Graham's writing. Though he hadn't been completely happy about it, he had agreed to be interim sheriff while Emma got better, and Regina had a feeling that he was just trying to give her one less thing to worry about.

The paper only served as yet another reminder of the horrible situation that her life was turning into. It seemed as though that she had fallen into a cycle of somehow losing her love and then the two of them somehow having to 'find each other' again, and honestly it made her feel nauseous. Not only because her life seemed to have literally turned into a fairytale again, but because she was beginning to actually feel sorry for the two idiots for making them feel this time and time again.

At the thought, she dropped her head into her hands and sighed deeply when a thought occurred to her. She knew exactly who could help her, even if he did get his PhD from a curse.

 **A/N Hope you guys liked it, sorry it was short but it's the only way to update today since I usually don't write after work.**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated, and hopefully the next chapter will be here tomorrow :)**


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty-two

"You do understand that you came to see me," Archie chuckled, he had to admit that it came as a surprise that the former Evil Queen would ever be willing to talk about her issues, but now it seemed as though she wasn't, considering the silence of the last half an hour.

Regina bit her lip and looked around the therapist's office to make sure that she was really there, and then sighed deeply.

"I'm not sure why I did come here," she explained.

The psychologist nodded, and suggested, "Perhaps you could explain your thought process."

Regina closed her eyes in frustration, and admitted something against her better judgement, "I'm afraid that out loud I'll sound irrational."

"Just because a feeling is irrational, it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be addressed, Regina. Can you at least give me the basics?"

Regina's mind flashed back her childhood, something that she hadn't told a single person about. She thought the first person she did talk about it with would be Emma, not some cricket.

Deciding that Cora would be off limits for her first sessions (she refused to acknowledge why she already knew that this wouldn't be her last session), she took a deep breath and admitted the other thing that had been weighing heavily on her mind.

"I feel completely useless; I should be helping Emma in some way."

Archie tilted his head and asked, "Why aren't you?"

For a moment, Regina felt anger flare at the slight accusation in his voice, but she moved past it and explained, "She wanted her parents to be her caretakers and she has rebuffed my attempts to become involved with her recovery."

"And I suppose that you have formed your own theories as to why this is?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" the mayor asked with a clenched jaw.

Archie held up his hands in surrender, and for some reason she felt herself instantly calm down, _things would have been easier if we had therapists in the Enchanted Forest,_ she internally mused.

"What I mean Regina, is that you often internalise your issues and allow them to fester. It's part of the reason I was so shocked that you booked an appointment for yourself, not that I'm not happy about you being willing to work through your issues in a healthy way."

"How is thinking that Emma doesn't need me any different from saying it?" Regina sighed.

"Because when you say it out loud, someone else can tell you that there's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation that you are missing because you're consumed by self-doubt. I suppose you have convinced yourself that you have somehow done something to wrong Emma?" he replied.

He got his answer when Regina wouldn't meet her gaze, and he continued, "You and Emma are very much alike, have you not thought that she may be going through the same thing?"

Regina narrowed her eyes at the man and replied, "Meaning?"  
"Meaning that I would guess that Emma is trying to deal with what happened during her...ordeal, have you asked her exactly what happened?"

"Of course not!" Regina said indignantly, "why would I want her to relive it?"

"Because that is the only way that she can begin to heal. I'm not saying that she needs to talk about it today, or even tomorrow, but she should know that there is someone who she can talk to about it when she needs to."

"She has her parents," the brunette replied bitterly.

"And why do you think that she chose them? My guess is that she knows that they don't know what to say to get her to talk about her trauma, that neither of them have gone through the same kind of torture and therefore are unable to have a deep and meaningful conversation about it."

Regina's eyes widened and she asked, "Did Henry tell you about his new storybook?"

"He may have revealed some of the more troubling aspects of it," Archie shrugged, "did you not know that he still talks to me?"

"He seemed so happy that he no longer had to come to therapy, I thought he would never voluntarily come back," she said almost to herself.

"Oh no, he didn't come to my office, he just talked to me at the diner," Archie laughed, "he's just happy that you no longer treat him as if he needs therapy, that doesn't mean that he hasn't come to appreciate the idea of having someone to talk to who isn't directly involved in his issues."

"He has issues?" Regina sighed.

Archie smiled fondly at her concern, and replied, "It's not anything that you aren't already aware of, Regina. I believe he sees me more of a friend than someone he has to talk to."

Regina thought about this for a moment, trying to decide whether it bothered her that Henry would chose to talk to Archie over her. After, however, she realised that the former cricket did have a certain calming presence, and she could certainly understand needing someone other than a family member to talk to, even about the most insignificant of things.

Archie eyed the woman carefully, expecting her to demand to hear exactly what Henry had talked to him about, but instead she just let out a sigh and a returned with a smile.

"I suppose I owe you a thank you then."

The man blinked a few times, and then returned the smile, "anytime, I'm always willing to help."

* * *

-Three days later-

Emma stared listlessly across the room, seemingly unable to register the other people in it.

Snow and Charming stood in the kitchen preparing dinner, with Snow regularly shooting glances at her unresponsive daughter.

The blonde hadn't uttered more than a few words in the past few days, she hadn't even left the bed other than to use the toilet. Honestly, Snow was just happy that the nurse had taught Emma to use it by herself, she wasn't sure that was something that she would be able to handle doing, as much as it hurt, she could admit that Emma was a grown woman, and some independence was necessary.

Grabbing the glass of water that the saviour had asked for, she walked over and placed it on the bedside table.

"Here you go sweetheart," she said in a soft voice.

Without looking up, Emma nodded by way of saying thank you and Snow tried not to sigh.

Up close she could see the bags under Emma's eyes, revealing what she and her husband already knew. The blonde hadn't sleep well since she was released from the hospital, every time she managed to drift off, she would wake up an hour later covered in sweat and panting, and the sight had begun to physically hurt her parents since they had no idea how to help.

"Do you need anything else?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Emma mumbled.

Snow was about to walk away, before she decided that she'd had enough of pretending that there was nothing more she could do, "Emma, please just tell us what's wrong."

The blonde clenched her jaw and finally looked up at her mother, "what do you think is wrong?"

Snow resisted the urge to face palm herself and began to reply, "I..." only to be interrupted by a raised hand.

"I can't walk!" Emma shouted, finally showing more emotion than she had in days, "don't you think that I'm allowed to be slightly distant, or do I have to tell you my every thought?"

Snow bit her lip, and finally aired her suspicions, "I don't think that's what is actually upsetting you."

Emma furrowed her brow, panic clinging to her slightly.

The paralysis was of course a sore point for her, but it wasn't what was on her mind twenty-four seven. Every time she managed to fall asleep, she dreamed of scenarios in which Cora had been too late to save Henry. Of course, she now knew that Neal probably wouldn't have hurt their son, but that didn't stop her active imagination. In her dreams, Regina couldn't even look at her through her grief, she was too weak to be with the former queen and she couldn't help berating herself in the day for it.

"How would you know?" Emma asked, knowing one way to get her mother to stop talking, she decided to only use it if Snow didn't back off soon.

"Regina would..." she began.

Emma cut her off, promptly putting her plan into action, "do you really know me that well to judge what's bothering me?"

Snow looked taken aback for a second, and felt an urge to just shake her head and go back to the kitchen, but she was determined, "no I don't."

Emma stared at her mother, not sure whether she was disappointed that it didn't work, or relieved that they were finally slightly changing the subject.

"I don't know you that well, at least not yet," she explained, "but that doesn't change the fact that I have every intention of being your mother and that means that I can't just stand aside and watch you be miserable."

"And how do you plan to make it better?!" Emma shouted.

"I don't know," Snow sighed, "you need to talk to someone."

"You?" Emma laughed, "no offence, but you would make a pretty shit therapist."

Snow rolled her eyes and shook her head, "no, not me...someone that will understand, someone who has suffered enough to understand."

Emma bit her lip, knowing exactly who her mother was talking about, "I'm fine," she said again, "I don't need to talk to anyone, I just need to be left alone."

"You're not fine, Emma, you haven't slept in days."

"Try being electrocuted for six hours and tell me how eager you are to go to bed," the blonde mumbled turning away from her mother, "I'm not hungry, can you close the curtain?"

Snow looked over at David, who had been silently watching the exchange; he was kind of shocked to hear Emma talk so much after days of almost silence. With a sigh, the mother did as she was asked, coming to stand in front of the kitchen island, she looked at her husband questioningly.

"What?" she finally asked after several moments of silence.

"Where that come from?" he replied.

"We can't just wait for her to talk to us, David; we need to assure her that we're here for her."

David looked at the woman sceptically and said, "I don't think it worked, Snow."

"Are you kidding?" she returned, "she actually talked to me."

"She spent the whole conversation telling you that she doesn't want to talk to you," he replied, looking thoroughly confused.

"Which proves my theory," Snow said triumphantly, David continued to look at her in confusion, until she finally explained, "she doesn't want to talk to us, so we need to get her to talk to someone else."

"And how do you suppose we get her to talk to Regina?"

Snow furrowed her brow and fell onto one of the stools, "I'm still working on that part."

* * *

Cora paced outside of her daughter's front door.

She had been invited to dinner, and honestly she was worried that the tentative trust she had built with her daughter and grandson could all come crashing down.

Finally, she knocked at the door, which Henry opened a few minutes later.

"Hey," he smiled and opened the door wider to allow her into the house.

Cora returned the smile and took the invitation, walking into the foyer.

"Mom's in the kitchen," he informed her before making his way upstairs to get ready for dinner.

Cora made the short trip the kitchen, where she found her daughter chopping carrots, and grinned fondly at the sight. She couldn't help but think that after everything was said and done, Regina had ultimately gone against the life she wanted for her, and she couldn't have been happier about that fact.

"Good evening dear," she said by way of announcing her presence.

Regina looked up, and a plethora of emotions crossed her face, before she seemed to settle upon tentative smile, "hello mother."

Cora came over and sat at the island, and the pair sat in silence for five minutes, with the chopping the only sound filling the kitchen, until the older woman finally brought up an important issue.

"Rumpel agreed to not attempt to free Neal so long as he gets a fair trial," she said.

Regina looked up with a raised eyebrow, and asked, "Is that really necessary?"

"Is it not better than the wrath of the Dark One?" Cora replied.

Regina shrugged, "I suppose it will be a relatively short trial."

"Exactly what do you have planned?"

Regina put the knife down and sighed, "I haven't decided yet."

"Regina..." Cora warned, knowing exactly how well her daughter's last revenge turned out.

"What?"

"I understand your anger, but you need to think it through," she sighed.

"Believe me mother, I have thought it through thoroughly, rather ironic that Rumpel taught me so many methods of revenge in the effort of getting back his son."

"Would it really be worth it?"

Regina tilted her head, "did you not see what he did to Emma?"

Cora furrowed her brow, "technically, it was Greg who tortured her."

"On Neal's orders!"

"Who's to say that if it wasn't someone else, the same thing wouldn't have happened?"

Regina narrowed her eyes at her mother, "I can assure you that it wouldn't have happened if it was someone else, I know firsthand what happened, besides why are you protecting him?"

"Because I would rather not have Rumpelstiltskin seeking revenge against my daughter," she ground out, "and what did happen?"

Regina eyed her mother, and replied, "Greg did it to some else."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter mother," Regina sighed, and picked up the knife.

"It was you wasn't it?" Cora asked tentatively, hoping that her suspicions were wrong.

The younger brunette shrugged and her mother reached across the island to place her hand over hers. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Regina closed her eyes in frustration, she couldn't help the feeling that her mother seemed to be somehow picking Neal over her, even if she did make a very good point about his father.

"I suppose torture isn't an uncommon occurrence for me, it seemed rather mundane," she replied through gritted teeth.

Cora looked completely stunned, and the thick tension was promptly cut by the loud ringing of Regina's cell phone.

The mayor grabbed it, and instantly looked even more irritated as she held the device to her ear, "what do you want Snow?"

After a short conversation, Regina placed the phone on the counter and looked tentatively at her mother.

"What did she want, dear?" Cora asked, very thankful for the change of topic, if only so she had time to fully process what her daughter's words meant.

"She's worried about Emma; she said she hasn't slept since the hospital. She all but demanded that I go over to the apartment."

"Then go," Cora smiled.

Regina looked over at the clock on the opposite wall. Dinner had already been late it was, since Henry had stayed back after school to join some kind of extracurricular English class, and then Regina had to stay late at work to catch up. The boy had insisted that they shouldn't postpone the dinner with his grandmother, so they had simply asked for her come later.

"I can't..."

"Regina, I can manage to make my grandson something for dinner and watch him until you come back. You know that you have to go over and help to make your girlfriend feel better, you'll regret not doing it."

Regina looked down at the preparation she had done so far and asked sceptically, "you know how to cook?"

Cora let out a bark of laughter, and began pushing the younger woman towards the kitchen door, "go."

* * *

Snow pulled the door open somewhat violently to reveal her former step mother.

"Thanks for coming, Regina," she sighed in relief.

"I must admit, I'm not exactly sure why you called me," Regina replied, while she followed the younger woman into the apartment.

"She needs someone to talk to."

Regina raised her eyebrow at the man sitting on the couch, and she couldn't help but wonder just how annoying the pair had been for the past three days.

David continued at the curious look from the mayor, "she won't talk to us, and as strange as it is, you have known her longest."

"It's only been three days, you surely can't expect her to be healed so quickly, have you even tried to give her space?"

David and Snow shared a look, seeming to be having a silent conversation that involved an 'I told you so', and Regina rolled her eyes.

"You have been constantly pestering her, and you wonder why she won't talk to you?"

Snow sighed, and said through gritted teeth, "she won't even be in the same room as you."

The princess's face dropped when she realised what she said, and Regina rolled her eyes, "and yet you were still desperate enough to call for my help?"

David stood from the couch and pulled his wife away before she said anything else that would be considered incredibly stupid and said, "We have a theory that we're not the people she really needs."

"A theory?" Regina scoffed, "aren't you supposed to be her caretakers? And you're spending your time coming up with theories?"

"Will you help or not?" Snow asked.

Regina looked over to the closed curtain, and took a deep breath, "of course I will, as long as I'm guaranteed privacy."

Snow nodded instantly and pulled her husband upstairs, "if she doesn't get some sleep soon, she's going to make herself ill," she whispered to David, who looked like he wanted to protest the arrangement.

Regina stood looking at the partition between her and the girlfriend that she hadn't seen in days, and thought back to Archie's advice. He certainly had a point, she imagined that the saviour was probably as distant as she was when it came to deep meaningful feelings, but that didn't stop the doubt from creeping upon her trying to convince her that the saviour didn't need the Evil Queen to make her feel better.

With a deep breath, she pulled the curtain aside and was met with, "I'm fine, Snow."

Emma turned expecting to have to find a way to get her mother to leave her alone, but instead her face went blank when she saw who stood before her bed.

For the first time since the kidnapping, she maintained eye contact with the woman that she loved, and she felt a flood of happiness at the concerned face, before regret clenched her stomach and she looked away.

"I'm too tired to talk, Regina," Emma sighed, refusing to look up as she spoke.

Emma furrowed her brow when all she heard was the clicking of heels getting closer, and looked up to see Regina standing right next to the bed.

"That's exactly why I'm here," she smiled.

* * *

Snow woke up and instantly sprung into a sitting position.

For the past few days she had been woken with the sinking feeling that something was wrong and had run down stairs to see her daughter having a fitful sleep, but now it seemed as though both she and her husband had slept through the night.

David sprung awake a moment later, seemingly having the same thought as his wife, as without words they both began to make their way down the stairs.

Tentatively, they came to the living room to see the curtain still drawn. Usually Snow would pull it across to make sure that they could hear whether Emma needed something.

The parents exchanged another nervous look, and Snow stepped forward as quietly as possible.

Hesitantly, she pulled the material aside slightly, and instantly a smile adorned her face.

She heard the familiar soft little snore coming from her daughter, a sound that had been replaced with something much more distressed as of late.

It became evident that the blonde was hugging something very tightly, something that was clearly making her feel able to sleep.

Snow took a second to look curiously at how non-threatening her daughter's girlfriend looked in her sleep, and then snapped the curtain closed.

"She's fine," she whispered happily to David.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed :)**

 **I'm not sure how much time I'll to write tomorrow, so it may be shorter chapters for Saturday and Sunday (probably around 1k words), but I'll make them as long as possible**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated, and if anyone has any ideas for what should happen in the Pan arc (he will be coming to Storybrooke) then pm me, I love hearing what you guys would like to see in the fic XD**


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty-three

Emma slowly opened her eyes, and felt a strange contentedness when it registered that her arms were wrapped around someone's waist. Usually when she went to sleep she expected to wake up distressed and alone, but that wasn't the case this morning.

Regina's breath remained even and the blonde smiled at just how adorable the sleeping former queen was.

Last night was the first time that someone hadn't asked her if she needed something. Regina had just lay down next to her without any further talk and watched as her exhausted girlfriend was finally able to sleep.

Suddenly, however, Emma's grip on the smaller woman's waist weakened as she remembered the reason that she hadn't seen her in three days. Guilt began to creep upon her, and the images of her dreams began to creep upon her, the utter sorrow at what could have happened.

She began to try and remove her arm, before she realised that she literally couldn't run away and it wasn't like she knew how to covertly get into her wheelchair.

"Emma?" came a sleepy voice.

The blonde couldn't help but smile at the sound, and she was beginning to wonder why she would deprive herself the sound for three days, but she knew the exact reason was not something that she wished to ever tell Regina.

Emma turned and smiled at the mayor who seemed to be finally waking up.

Regina furrowed her brow and sat up, she grabbed her phone from the bedside table and sighed in relief as the alerts revealed that Cora had stayed the night at the mansion and was now getting ready to take Henry to school.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, before Emma couldn't resist any longer and launched forward to connect their lips together.

After a moment of shock, Regina began to move her lips slowly against her girlfriend's, and eventually the blonde pulled away, still keeping their faces close together.

"I missed you," Emma sighed.

Regina smiled instantly at the three words that made all of her self-doubt fall away, but she still was more than curious as to why the blonde had felt the need to isolate herself.

"You know you didn't have to," she laughed, and instantly Emma fell back against the pillow.

The blonde shrugged and sighed, Regina didn't seem to be angry at her at all, but then she was pretty sure that she didn't know why she should be.

"Trust me, I did," she sighed.

Regina's eyebrows shot up as she realised that the saviour was finally opening up to someone, but unlike Snow she knew that if she put too much pressure on the conversation, the blonde would shut down, so she just fell back down and lay next to her.

"There is nothing you could do that would make me wish to not to see you," Regina said after a moment of silence, "unless you cheated on me..." she laughed.

Emma smiled at the mayor's attempt to lighten the mood, and replied, "I would have to be a complete idiot to cheat on an all powerful sorceress."

Regina nodded, and continued to wait for Emma to decide if she was ready.

Minutes of silence past and eventually Emma couldn't take it anymore, she knew that she needed Regina in her life and she could no longer live with the thoughts that she might lose her, so she decided that now would have to be the moment of truth.

"I put Henry in danger," she mumbled.

Regina nodded, and sighed, "I know."  
Emma's head snapped towards the woman, and just about managed to say, "how?" through her shock.

Regina brought her hand across and intertwined their fingers, in a somewhat twisted way; she was glad that this was the root issue, especially since she knew for a fact that Henry was currently completely safe.

"You seemed so intent on asking about Henry in that cabin, it dawned on me later that Greg must have gotten you to say something that put him in danger."

Emma nodded, and looked away from the chocolate brown orbs, "he...tortured me for hours, and I didn't say anything, and he got that stupid switchblade out and I admitted that he could find the trigger if he read Henry's storybook."

Regina brought the blonde's chin up with one of her fingers and smiled broadly, "you are a ridiculous human being, Miss Swan."

The serious look on the other woman's face instantly disappeared, to be replaced with utter confusion, and she said, "You're not mad at me?"

"I'm somewhat angry that you didn't feel able to share your feelings, I do not enjoy being ignored. But Emma, Henry is perfectly safe, and even if he were hurt, I can guarantee that while he recovered neither of us would harbour any ill feelings towards you."

Emma seemed to be thinking this through for a moment; she still couldn't help but feel like she had been completely and utterly weak. But now in this moment, she felt somehow stronger, and so she leaned forward and connected their lips again.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Regina laughed in relief.

"Are you sure you want to date a cripple?" the blonde asked after a moment, and Regina instantly rolled her eyes when she saw the smile playing across her girlfriend's face.

"I'm very sure, and don't ever call yourself that again."

* * *

Snow furrowed her brow at the sound of frying bacon, and sat up in bed.

She and David had tried to both get some more sleep once they had discovered that their daughter had been able to get some herself, and she actually felt refreshed for the first time in days.

David sat up and they exchanged a curious look, before each making their way down the stairs.

The first thing that the woman noticed was her old bed completely empty, which had become a rare sight since her daughter hated the wheelchair.

Shaking her head, she turned to the kitchen and saw Regina standing behind the island, clearly making breakfast.

Snow looked at her for a moment, before the former queen pointed to the dining table, where Emma sat drinking hot cocoa.

David smiled broadly at the sight; for once the blonde wasn't grimacing at the wheelchair, and just seemed to be enjoying her drink.

"Good morning," Snow said brightly, she and her husband came sat next to their daughter to her right side, who offered each of them a tentative smile. She felt as though she owed her mother an apology for what she said the night before, and she imagined a thank you for calling Regina to come over, but then again the smile her mother gave in return made her feel as if none of that were necessary.

"Morning," Emma replied after she took a gulp of hot chocolate.

Regina came over and placed a bacon sandwich in front of her girlfriend, and smiled at her parents, "coffee?"

Snow and David both shook their head at the same time and Regina took a seat on Emma's right side, bringing the mug of coffee up to her lips as the saviour greedily bit into the bread.

Eventually Emma looked over at Snow and said, "It's hard to eat with you staring at me Snow."

Snow laughed and stood up to get herself something to eat, "I suppose it's a strange sight."

"You haven't been eating?" Regina asked with a furrowed brow.

Emma shrugged and after another mouthful of bacon she replied, "I wasn't hungry."

"You should have called me earlier, Snow, I had no idea that the issue was that bad," Regina called, and Emma adorned a look of faux outrage.

"I do not eat that much!" she pouted.

Regina leaned forward and wiped some ketchup off the side of her mouth, "Certainly more than your stature would indicate."

Snow laughed at the exchange, before she furrowed her brow, "Emma...your temple," she pointed. In her excitement she hadn't noticed that the bandages that once covered the woman's temple was gone, and that her skin looked completely healed, she imagined that it was more healed than the creams could have ever achieved.

Emma brought her hand up to the once burnt skin and smiled when she felt no pain meet her hand, "Regina healed it, apparently I moan too much."

"I did not say that," Regina retorted, "I said that I imagined you would moan too much."

Emma shrugged and said, "isn't that the same thing?"

As they continued talking, David came over to the kitchen to stand next to his wife.

"Looks like your theory was correct," he whispered with a smirk.

Snow inspected the affectionate expressions, and quickly turned away, "maybe we should give them some privacy," she whispered back.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed all the SQ in this chapter XD**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated, and I hope you guys are looking forward to the last Back to the Start week chapter tomorrow XD**


	54. Chapter 54

**A/N I need to thank sweetmint101 for offering to look at punctuation, I also need to thank Quindecim and as always my beta QueenApples who is just completely and utterly awesome XD**

Chapter Fifty-four

Graham typed furiously at the computer, trying desperately not to think about how utterly bored this job made him while at the same time trying not to think about how short staffed they probably were at the animal shelter.

He couldn't deny that the man who had done the job for twenty-eight years was the clear choice to fill the position for as long as the saviour was out of commission, but that didn't mean that he had to enjoy the job.

His phone buzzed and he instantly smiled at the name on the screen, he shot a text back and sighed, he couldn't help but flashback to his latest breakfast with Regina, who he could admit was probably one of his best friends at this point.

 _Regina walked into the diner, and for once not a single person looked up in judgement as soon as she opened the door, and she had to admit that she liked the feeling._

 _Casually she made her way over to the booth where she had spotted Graham, and slid in opposite him._

 _Instantly she raised her eyebrow at the man, "you already ordered for me?" she laughed as she inspected the breakfast placed in front of her._

 _Graham shrugged with a grin, "you're very predictable Regina."_

 _The mayor rolled her eyes, but made no further protests as she picked up the mug of coffee that had seemed to have cooled down to the perfect temperature._

 _After a few sips, she asked, "this isn't about Operation RedBeauty is it?"_

 _Graham looked over at the wolfish waitress who was talking to the librarian and replied, "Henry said that he's got it sorted."_

 _Regina furrowed her brow and followed his line of sight, just catching Ruby placing a peck on Belle's lips before the bookworm stood up to leave._

 _"How did he do that?"_

 _"He said that he decided to go with Emma's plan," the former sheriff laughed._

 _"You mean the tactless plan that involved just telling them that they are attracted to each other?"_

 _Graham nodded, "you should stop doubting her, it worked," he laughed at Regina's narrowed eyes._

 _"I just don't see a reason for calling it an operation when the plan was that simple," she replied._

 _"You're being rather childish, madam mayor," Graham teased, "anyway this is about something else."_

 _"You want to play cupid again? Henry may have to start charging you," she chuckled._

 _Graham rolled his eyes, and replied, "I'm asking you, not Henry."_

 _"Who are you trying to pair together this time?"_

 _"Me and...ermmm..."_

 _"Just say it Graham," she laughed._

 _Graham looked over to a booth across the diner where the object of his affection sat just talking with his father._

 _Regina followed his gaze again and laughed, "I never would have guessed, but I suppose I'm not one to judge."_

 _"Oh ha ha," Graham scowled, "are you going to help me or not?"_

 _Regina took another sip of coffee and placed it down, "I don't see why not."_

 _With that she stood before Graham could protest, and made her way across the diner._

 _The former hunter blinked a few times, before he stood and followed her, "Regina.." he hissed over her shoulder, but she held up her hand to quiet him._

 _"Hello Regina," August asked with a furrowed brow._

 _"Graham wishes to know whether you would consider going on a date with him tomorrow at eight," she said without pretence._

 _Graham placed his head in his hands and audibly sighed, this was not what he meant when he tried to promote Emma's plan._

 _Gepetto raised his eyebrows higher than Regina thought humanly possible, but after a moment his shock fell away and he turned to his shell shocked son._

 _August looked between Regina and Graham before he nodded._

 _"He said yes," Regina whispered which caused Graham's face to lift hastily out of his hands._

 _"Really?" he asked._

 _The puppet laughed at his crush's reaction and nodded again, "funnily enough we were just talking about you."_

"Do you have to type so loud?"

Graham blinked out of the fond memory, and scowled at the man in the holding cell.

"I don't generally believe that criminals deserve peace and quiet," he replied.

Neal rolled his eyes and said, "what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"Doesn't really apply to you, too much evidence," Graham retorted.

"That doesn't mean I don't deserve a trial."

Graham tilted his head and picked up a sheet next to him, "breaking and entering, theft, kidnapping, intentional cause of emotional distress, accessory to torture, I'm pretty sure it would be a really short trial. It's only happening because of your father."

"Are you trying to tell me that Storybrooke has a different legal system to the rest of America?"

Graham shrugged, "well as far as America is concerned it doesn't exist, so yes it does."

Neal rolled his eyes and fell back onto the cot.

"This is exactly why I was trying to get out of here," he muttered.

"And torturing your ex is the way to do that?" Graham laughed mockingly, "Did you really think you would be able to live normally knowing what happened to her?"

"Well technically I didn't see her, so yes I could live with it," he smirked,

Graham shot him a dirty look, and grabbed a photo from the file. Walking over to the cell, he held it up and Neal instantly cringed and looked away.

Though he had been reluctant to do it, he knew that they needed photographic evidence and so he had taken the picture after the blonde had woken from her surgery while the nurses were changing the dressings on her injuries.

Letting his arm fall back down, he looked at the man's look of pain but found himself unable to feel sympathy.

"I guess that plan won't work anymore," he said and turned to go back to his desk, before a thought occurred to him, "how did you break into Regina's house?"

"How is that important?" Neal retorted after a moment.

"She has the best alarm system in town, I understand being able to get into the Charming's apartment, but Regina's house is like Fort Knox."

Neal seemed to break out of his shock, and replied, "I saw Henry put the code in once."

Graham rolled his eyes and went back to his seat, he couldn't help but wish that he was with August right now rather than watching over the most despicable man he had ever met.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed all of the updates this week XD**

 **I'll try and update once next week, and then I'll see what my uni timetable is like :)**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated**


	55. Chapter 55

**A/N Hey guys, sorry this is so short but I didn't get much time to write today.**

 **Tomorrow is my sister's birthday so I'm not sure whether I'll get much writing in, and I start University on Monday, so I'll find out what my schedule will be like and then I'll plan my updates around it.**

 **I would also like to put a disclaimer in place for the duration of this arc, I will never to set out to offend anyone, so please if any wheelchair users do take offence to anything I write, pm me and I will change it as soon as possible, just know that it was not my intention if you do feel offended. Also things that are considered politically correct in England may not be where you are from, so please keep that in mind :)**

Chapter Fifty Five

"You could stay if you want," Henry smiled kindly.

Cora returned the smile completely and shook her head, "I think this is something that you three should do together."

Henry nodded in understanding, and said, "what am I supposed to do?"

Cora tilted her head, and replied, "what do you mean?"

"I mean..." Henry trailed off and sighed, he didn't know how to explain himself without sounding like a terrible person.

Cora slid into the booth for a moment and said, "treat Emma in the same way as you always have, she has to know that the wheelchair changes nothing."

"It doesn't change anything," Henry replied instantly, "I just don't want her to think that it does."

"Then just act normally," Cora laughed, "I'm afraid I'm not seeing the issue dear."

"Mom said that she spent hours convincing Emma that she should leave the apartment, I don't want to screw it up," he said with a tight smile.

"And how would my presence help that?"

"Well you could like give me the look if I say something stupid," he laughed.

"What look?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

"The mom look."

Cora tilted her head, and laughed, "surely your mother is quite adept at the 'mom look'."

Henry smirked and replied, "I guess you're right."

The bell over the door rang out, and almost everyone in the diner looked over as the saviour wheeled herself up the newly installed ramp, while her girlfriend held the door open.

Cora offered her grandson one last supportive smile, before she moved over to the counter after giving her daughter and her blonde companion a little wave.

After a few seconds, each person turned back to their meals, and Henry guessed that it was because of the death stare that the mayor was casting around the establishment.

However, Emma didn't seem to care about any other person as her sights fell upon her completely unharmed son. He visibly saw a look of relief mixed with guilt come over her face, and so he instantly shot her a broad and inviting smile.

He had guessed that Emma must have said something that had put him in danger. Though he hadn't wanted to hear the details of the torture, it was obvious that the only thing that came out of it for Neal and Greg was Neal trying to get the information from his storybook. Despite this however, he had never once thought a bad thought towards his birth mother. He could hardly dispute the fact that she had been through enough as it was, and he had to admit that seeing her in wheelchair was a strange sight, especially considering how casually she had slain a dragon mere weeks ago.

Henry looked from his blonde mother to his brunette one walking beside her and offered her a smile which she returned.

Finally, Emma made it to the table and wheeled up to the end, skilfully positioning the chair at the end of it.

"Hey kid," she said after a moment of silence.

Henry took a moment to just look at the woman who felt guilty for withstanding hours of torture, and then he jumped out of his seat and enveloped her in a hug.

Emma looked up at Regina who smiled broadly as her girlfriend brought her arms around their son's shoulders.

Henry pulled away, and Emma laughed, "it was only three days, kid."

"I missed you though, it was way too long."

The blonde looked as though the boy's words had rendered her speechless and she simply gave him a watery smile by way of reply.

Henry fell back into his seat, and smiled as Ruby walked up with three plates.

"You already ordered?" Emma laughed.

"Well with mom with you, I figured you wouldn't be late," the little brunette shrugged.

Regina gave the blonde a smirk, which caused her to playfully roll her eyes, and she thanked Ruby for the meals.

The wolf stared for a moment, and Regina said, "can we help you Miss Lucas?"

Ruby seemed to finally realise what she had been doing and shook her head, "sorry...I just..."

Emma picked up a French Fry, and said, "it's a wheelchair Rubes, not Lord Voldermort." The blonde popped the fry in her mouth, and looked at the three speechless people surrounding her, before she rolled her eyes and said, "is it seriously too soon to make jokes?"

Regina and Ruby exchanged a tense look, before the waitress just nodded and walked away.

Emma looked at Regina for a moment and said, "is that look your way of telling me to stop making people uncomfortable?"

Regina furrowed her brow for a moment, before her mouth spread into a smile, "of course not, it's their fault if they're uncomfortable."

"Then what was with the look?"

"I just assumed that you were far away from making jokes," Regina shrugged.

"I made the cripple joke and you said I wasn't allowed to do that again," Emma protested.

"That was different," the brunette said as she rolled her eyes.

"So it only counts as a joke if you find it funny?"

"Is that not the point of a joke, Miss Swan, that your companion actually finds some humour in it?"

Henry looked between the two women and saw the smirks playing on their lips and he smiled in return. He couldn't help but feel like everything was practically back to normal, he knew that it wouldn't change a thing if Emma stayed in the chair forever or if the physiotherapy meant she would get her ability to walk back.

It was now obvious that no matter what they could actually be a family, so he just continued to watch with silent glee as his parents traded barbs.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter fifty six

-Two weeks later-

"What are you doing Emma?" Regina laughed as she walked into the living room with coffee.

"Physiotherapy," the blonde replied and continued to do the stretches Whale had shown her.

"You're not supposed to do that on a couch, Emma," Regina sighed and placed the drink on the coffee table.

Emma pouted and shook her, "I don't want to do this on the floor."

Regina cocked her eyebrow and sat next to the coffee, "are you insulting the cleanliness of my floor?"

Emma smirked and replied, "of course not, your majesty, I'm merely saying that I would prefer to stay on the couch."

"Well then you can go and do it on your parents couch."

Emma grimaced at the thought and said, "I like living with you." The colour suddenly drained from the blonde's face as she realised the implications of her words and began stuttering, desperately trying to make some kind of retraction.

"Calm down," Regina laughed, "I like living with you too, Emma."

The woman visibly relaxed, before she began pouting again, "are you sure that I have to go back to work today?"

"You can go back whenever you want, you was the one who was complaining about being bored."

"Well, when you're not here, I get very bored."

Regina rolled her eyes and replied, "you can either go back to work, or you can just wait for 'take your girlfriend to work day.'"

Emma sighed and replied, "fine, I'll go even if I'm only allowed to do paperwork."

"What else do you usually do?"

Emma thought about that for a moment and laughed, "I guess I just chase Pongo and then write about chasing Pongo."

"Go to work, Miss Swan," Regina chuckled and stood.

Emma grabbed her wrist and said, "don't forget that I have physio later."

"I will be there promptly to give you your ride," Regina assured.

Emma nodded and released her wrist, just as she was walking back to the kitchen to start Henry's breakfast, Emma called, "can you bring lunch with you?"

* * *

Neal woke up, expecting to be met with the heavy typing of Graham, but instead he was met with complete silence.

Looking over with a furrowed brow, he saw that the Deputy's desk was completely empty and faintly he heard the sound of movement coming from the separated office.

He felt panic rise in his stomach as the realisation hit him that meant the sheriff was in her office, which meant that he was currently in the same area as the woman he had so severely hurt.

Turning to face the wall, he tried to get the image that Graham had shown him out of his mind, but just as every other time, he failed. He knew that the burn marks would be forever engrained upon his mind, to make it even worse, Graham had decided to share the news about the blonde's new inability to walk.

As much as guilt had tried to attach itself to each of these memories, Neal just kept trying to convince himself that what he had planned had been the right thing. He would go back in time and erase every bad thing he had done, he could go back and stop Emma or Henry going to Storybrooke. It was more than merely stopping them from meeting Regina, though he would be lying if he said that was a major part of it, he knew it was the only way to protect his son from the person he knew was looking for the 'Truest Believer'.

Footsteps interrupted his thought and he turned to see his father looking at him almost sadly, Neal couldn't help but think that if even the Dark One could use that expression towards him, than he must have really screwed up.

"What do you want?" Neal finally asked.

"I came to tell you the good news," Gold replied with a furrowed brow, "your trial is set for tomorrow morning."

"How is that good news?"

"Because I will be able to ensure that Regina is unable to use her own special brand of justice against you," Gold replied.

Neal looked over the man for a second and rose from the cot, "you think that I deserve whatever she has planned."

"Of course not, how could you think that, son?"

"You're looking at me in the same way as everyone else," he accused.

"What? Like a jackass?" a female voice interrupted.

Neal snapped his attention to the source, the first thing he noticed was the sound of rubber moving against the floor as his ex-girlfriend propelled herself forward towards the Deputy's desk where she grabbed a random file.

"E-Emma?" Neal breathed as he stared intently at the wheelchair.

"You know that most people consider that to be rude, Mr Cassidy?" Regina called from the entrance to the station, where she stood holding a Granny's take-out bag.

Neal turned to look at the mayor and shot a venomous look that could rival any of those offered by his father.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Because unlike you, I am free to go wherever I wish, and in this moment, I chose to have lunch with my girlfriend. If you take issue with that…well I'm afraid that there's nothing you can do about it."

Neal clenched his fists and Regina just ignored him going over to follow the blonde to her office.

Gold looked at his son expectantly for a response to what had just happened, but instead what he got surprised him, "when is Henry's birthday?"

"In two days, why?"

Neal let out a deep sigh and fell onto the cot, he had hoped that he had simply miscounted the days and that he had more time to do what he needed to protect his family.

"It doesn't matter," he replied with a dismissive wave.

"I disagree, I believe when someone is set a deadline, they should keep it."

"What are you talking about?" Neal asked cautiously.

Looking back, Rumple saw that he was completely obscured from the sheriff and mayor's view and waved his hand to reveal his true form.

"I allowed you to leave Netherland, Bae. How should I deal with you now that you seem so intent on breaking your promise to bring me the Truest Believer?" Peter Pan asked.

 **A/N Thanks for all of the reviews to the A/N, I'll finish this arc, I've planned for about another five or six chapters but I don't know for sure how long they'll take haha so please be patient and I'll apologise in advance XD**

 **If you guys have any ideas for one shots that you would like to see in this universe, then please pm so that I can have a few to work on in the break between this and the sequel (I don't know when that will be). Also if you have any ideas for the Peter Pan arc, then feel free to pm me since I haven't been able to settle on a exact idea yet XD**

 **Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and I would love to hear what you thought of the chapter :D**


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter fifty seven

"What do you want for your birthday?" Emma asked the boy who was walking beside her as she wheeled her way back home. The saviour had finally stopped getting stares every time she went out in public, it was for this reason that she no longer felt the need to come up with excuses as to why she couldn't pick Henry up from school.

Henry tilted his head in concentration and replied, "with everything going on, I kind of forgot that it was nearly my birthday."

"So you don't want anything?"

His eyes widened and he shook his head, "that's not what I said."

Emma laughed and they rounded the corner to Mifflin Street, "so you need time to think about it?"

"How about a movie night with you and mom," he suggested.

"We did that two days ago and you could basically just ask any time for it, think bigger, kid."

"You could teach me magic," he tried.

"Think smaller."

"A horse," he suggested.

Emma paled and her son laughed at her, "your seriously still afraid?" he asked.

"Not so much, I have an excuse to not have lessons," she smirked.

Henry rolled his eyes and made his way up to the front door, a moment later, Emma had skilfully made her way up the ramp that Regina had created and went towards the living room.

"What time is mom home?" Henry asked as he fell onto the couch.

"She has to catch up on her work because she came with me to physio, so about six, which means you have to do your homework before dinner."

"I know what I want for my birthday," he suddenly announced.

"You have to do your homework, even on your birthday week, now go and do it," she insisted with a huge smile plastered across her face.

Henry pouted, but it soon became clear that his blonde mother wasn't going to change her mind and he stood from the couch mumbling about how unfair his life was.

Once he was gone, Emma managed to lift herself onto the couch and switched on the TV.

She couldn't help but think that everything was almost perfect, until she received a phone call a moment later.

* * *

David walked languidly into the sheriff's station.

Emma was out picking up Henry from school, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling at how different she was from the woman who had lain in bed in silence for days. He knew that the fact that it had been Regina who had helped with his daughter's healing process probably should have bothered him and it had for a couple days. But Snow had told him everything that had happened in the Enchanted Forest and he had seen for himself just how happy the blonde was when she was with her girlfriend and their son. Though this wasn't what he had expected to have happened when he placed his child in a wardrobe to protect her against the Evil Queen's Dark Curse, he no longer

resented the outcome. He was sure that given time, he would eventually come to accept it whole heartedly as it seemed his wife had.

For now, he had bigger issues, like the fact that the man he wanted to tear limb from limb was scheduled to get a trail tomorrow. Though he knew that Regina would do everything in her power to ensure that Neal got what he deserved, he was also very aware of the deception of the Dark One. If anyone could make it seem as though the man's actions were justified, it was Rumpelstiltskin and that worried him more than anything in the world.

Taking a seat at his desk, he pulled a file towards him. He gone over the case at lease twenty times, even if it was more than painful to read about the torture his child had gone through, he was aware that Neal going free would be far more painful.

He was about half way down the page when he realised that there was a distinct lack of sound. Granted, Neal was not the most vocal of prisoners, but David had at least been aware of his presence, usually his very presence irritated the prince and in this moment he felt nothing.

He snapped his head towards the cell to see it was completely empty.

He instantly jumped out of his seat and ran towards the bars which looked as though they had been forcibly pried open.

David ran his hand over the damage, completely unable to believe that it was possible for any human being to be capable of.

He strode over to the phone and prayed that she would answer and this could be put down to a simple misunderstanding.

"Hello," Regina's voice came through the device.

"What time was Neal going to be let out of his cell?"

There was pause on the over end of the line and she eventually said, "eight in the morning, why?"

David swallowed hard and replied, "he took the liberty of giving himself early release."

"What?" Regina growled.

"I came into the station and he's not here, it looks like he ripped the cell apart."

"Where's Emma?" she asked.

"She went to pick Henry up, she's probably back home by now," he said, though he imagined that they were each thinking the same thing. Neal never found out where the trigger was and would probably be making a second attempt at torturing it out of a certain blonde woman or brunette boy.

"Call Emma and inform her of what has happened."

"And what are you going to do?" he asked almost accusatorily.

"I'm going to protect your grandson."

* * *

Henry yawned and fell down onto his desk chair, simultaneously throwing his school bag on the wooden surface.

He dug his hand into it and pulled out a random book, taking the result as a sign that he should do his maths homework first, he threw the bag on the floor.

Pulling out a pencil, he looked blankly at some of the equations.

"Is that really what a hero such as yourself should be doing?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Henry instantly swung around in his chair to see a blonde teen sitting on his bed.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Your great-grandfather."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed. I'm sorry for the wait, just know that I am trying as hard as possible to write around my uni work :)**

 **I would love to hear what you thought of the chapter XD**


	58. Chapter 58

**T/W for character death**

Chapter fifty eight

-Lunch time-

"What do you want from me?" Neal asked, his voice cracking significantly, despite the fact that the threat before him was a mere teenager.

Pan looked his grandson up and down and he replied, "you know exactly what I wanted you to do, but it would appear that you are in no position to bring me the heart."

"I-I couldn't find the Truest Believer," the grown man lied.

"I know you're not being truthful with me Bae. You found out that the heart I need belongs to your son and you lost your nerve. You thought that you could go back in time and play happy family while I died in Neverland, unable to ever get to you."

"How did you get here?" Neal asked timidly.

"Your deadline was nearing and imagine my surprise when you didn't return to me with the person I so desperately needed to preserve my way of life. It hurt me deeply that one of my Lost Boys could so severely betray me Bae," he sighed with his hand over his heart. "I was so close to death when a tear revealed itself to me, I found myself in this wretched town, with the curse very much intact. The Truest Believer had not yet been through enough trials to obtain his mantle so I watched and waited as you planned to subvert my power."

"You've been here since Emma went back in time?" the older man choked out.

"And imagine my disappointment at finding out just who you are, your betrayal hurts that much more now that I know you to be my very own grandson."

Neal's mouth fell open, he was not able to form words. Rumple had always been unwilling to talk about his parents and honestly, as a child, he had far greater issues to deal with, like the fact that his father was the greatest evil across all of the realms. Now it would appear that the same evil was hereditary, though he still refused to acknowledge what he did was wrong, even if the sight of the wheelchair had hurt more than the thought of Regina executing him.

"That's right, Bae, you let down your own family," Pan sighed.

"Henry is my son," Neal replied rather weakly, "I would never have agreed had I known who the Truest Believer would end up being."

"And yet, you are willing to torture the mother of your child just because she found happiness with another. Face it, you are just monstrous as you believe father and I to be."

"I was trying to give Emma…"

"You was trying to take her happy ending away from her because it didn't match with what you wanted. How is that any better than anything your father ever did?" Pan glowered.

Neal looked desperately over at the office where Emma and Regina must have been eating lunch, he wanted nothing more than for the queen to come out right now and see just who had been living amongst the townsfolk for months. He wanted the mayor to come and save him from whatever sadistic fate his grandfather had prescribed him.

"Oh, they will not be coming to your rescue," Pan laughed.

"You can't hurt me with them right there," Neal said hollowly.

A moment later, a phone could be heard ringing from the office and after what must have been a short conversation, Neal saw the distinctive purple smoke engulf the office.

"It's so irritating when appointments are changed last minute, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-you changed Emma's physio time?" Neal asked, he had forgotten just how smart the blonde demon truly was.

"Can you blame me for wanting alone time with my only grandson? Especially since this will be my last chance," Pan sighed.

"Please…" he began, but was quickly halted by a raised hand.

"Considering the measures that I had to take in order for another chance at the heart, I would say that you are all out of chances, Bae, I now see that if I need something done, then I should do it myself."

With that, the bars bent under the force of the spell that the apparent teenager was exerting upon them.

Neal began to back away from the blonde, desperately looking around for an escape, but Pan was blocking the way out that he had just created.

The man swallowed hard and said, "you won't be able to get Henry's heart, Regina and Emma will protect him."

"I believe that you took care of the saviour for me, I'm sure I will be able to find a way to deal with the queen without your assistance. Goodbye Baelfire," Peter Pan then sank his hand into the man's chest.

As Neal fell lifelessly to the ground, Pan waved his hand and the body disappeared, as did he a moment later.

* * *

-After school-

"You would probably know me better as Peter Pan," the blonde perched on the bed chuckled.

Henry sat frozen in his seat and stared at the teenager who had invaded his bedroom.

He knew that Peter Pan should have been a hero, but this boy very clearly oozed evil, everything about him sent out signals that made the brunette instantly wary of him.

"Great-grandfather," the younger of the two repeated slowly.

"Appearance can be deceptive, dear Henry. For example, to most Storybrooke would appear to be a completely mundane and insignificant town. It takes a particular kind of person to see through such a façade without any proof, which is why I require your help."

"Help with what?" Henry asked cautiously.

"To prevent the destruction of magic, Neverland is in dire need of a hero such as yourself, please agree to come with me," he replied, standing from the bed as if it would be more convincing.

Henry tilted his head, somehow he was aware that he would probably have agreed to such a proposition had things gone the way that they should, but he no longer felt as though the storybook defined everything around him. He no longer felt the need to be known as a hero, he just wanted to be with his family without something happening to one of his mother's again.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I am your blood relative, my son, Rumpelstiltskin and his son Neal each turned into utter disappointments, but you do not know how proud I someone from my own blood line is the Truest Believer," Pan replied rather dramatically.

Henry shook his head and said, "my family is already big enough."

Pan's smile dropped into a scowl, he had clearly given up on pretending, "I only require your heart,

there is no need for the rest of you to be active."

Without further explanation, a needle appeared in his hand and he walked towards the brunette boy, fully prepared to place him under a sleeping curse and decrease the chance of any further complications.

Before Henry could shout for help, white smoke bellowed and the sheriff appeared clutching the wheels tightly, "Neal…" she trailed off as she saw the teenager who somewhat resembled her ex, but she was pretty sure that it wasn't him.

"You're the saviour?" Pan laughed, "rather ill-prepared to protect anyone, are we not?"

Emma's knuckles turned white and she said, "step away from my son."

"And what are you going to do to stop me?"

By way of reply, the blonde brought up both of her hands and without any hesitation, shot two orbs of pure white magic at him, but they quickly fizzled out.

"Not as strong as you thought?" Pan sneered.

Emma swallowed hard and began to wish that she knew more about magic but she had no idea how to hurt him, it wasn't as if she could use her tatic of punching him.

Pan turned back to Henry with the needle raised but his arm became engulfed by a purple glow.

"Do as the sheriff told you to, little boy," Regina said as she allowed her arm to drop back to her side.

 **A/N Sorry for the wait, I will try and finish this before Christmas :)**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought XD**


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter Fifty-Nine

"Peter Pan?" Snow repeated.

Regina rolled her eyes, she honestly didn't understand why she had to be so closely associated with such morons, but she managed to hold back a quip.

"He's after Henry," she sighed and looked over at Emma who was helping David go through the CCTV footage from the camera trained on the holding cell. She had a deep set frown as they sped through the hours of Neal just sitting there, clearly she wasn't fond of having to stare at the man who had caused her such pain. But Regina was also aware that there was another issue at play here and she was determined to talk about it once they had some privacy.

"You let him get away?" Snow asked bringing Regina out of her reverie.

With a frustrated huff, she turned and looked at her former step-daughter, "I was more focused on protecting my son rather than keeping a psychotic man-child in my home."

The princess nodded in understanding, she had thought that everything had finally settled down after the months of issues. Granted, Emma being in a wheelchair wasn't exactly what she had imagined when she thought about their future as a family, but it also didn't change that much in her view. As long as her daughter was happy she was happy, she had already seen what happened when a mother didn't support their child, even if Regina and Cora were slowly building a relationship.

Now, there was some kind of new villain.

Though Peter Pan was certainly the last person that she expected to be threatening her happiness, she knew that with everyone now here to protect Henry, the little demon boy stood no chance, it was just a matter of finding out what exactly he wanted.

"Regina…" Emma called in surprisingly panicked voice.

The brunette walked straight over and placed a hand on her shoulder, the blonde visibly relaxed and her girlfriend said, "what is it dear?"

She reversed the video and Regina watched as Peter Pan ripped out Neal's heart and she instantly closed her eyes with a sigh.

She couldn't say that she was sad about what she had just witnessed, but the mixed emotions on Emma's face told her that she probably shouldn't be celebrating the man's death. Even if she had, herself, planned some inventive ways to end his life a few times.

Leaning closer, she whispered, "are you okay?"

She just received a nod in reply, but she somehow felt more like a promise to talk more about it later.

The blonde leaned closer to the screen and watch Neal's lips move, she had some limited knowledge of lip-reading, but she just about managed to decipher her first love's last words, "'you won't be able to get Henry's heart, Regina and Emma will protect him,'" she said in a defeated voice, falling back against her chair.

"He wants Henry's heart?" David asked with a furrowed brow, "why?"

Both Snow and Charming looked at the other pair expectantly and Regina rolled her eyes, "Peter Pan didn't make an appearance in our future."

The prince let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Is he at least safe for now?"

"No Charming, I thought I would just abandon my son while we played detective," the brunette replied sardonically.

He narrowed his eyes and Emma cut in before he could try for a counter, "he's at the diner with Ruby and Graham and a protection spell preventing Pan from entering."

The blonde man nodded and turned back to the computer to see if there were any more clues.

There was silence for a few moments until Regina leaned down and whispered to Emma, "we need to talk."

At any other time, the blonde would have laughed at what those choice of words would have made her think of, but she wasn't in the mood and she was almost certain that she would know if she did something stupid enough for Regina to break up with her.

A few moments later, Emma wheeled herself into her office and then turned to look at Regina expectantly.

The brunette bit her lip and considered her words, she had no idea how to delicately broach the subject, so she just went for it, "I know that you're not truly upset about Neal's death."

Emma narrowed her eyes and asked, "of course I am upset, but…"

Regina held up her hand and supplied, "you're upset that he's gone, but you have already mourned for the man you loved when he left you in prison. In this moment there is something else bothering you."

The blonde considered denying it, but it was rather nice to have someone who knew her so well, "I couldn't protect Henry."

Regina's expression softened and she walked over to her girlfriend, once again placing her hand on the woman's shoulder, "Henry is fine."

"And what if David hadn't found out that Neal was free? You wouldn't have shown up and I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop him."

"Then we would have found him," Regina replied.

Emma looked at her lap for a moment and then finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind, "isn't there a spell that could fix me?"

Regina winced slightly at her choice of words and fell into the chair that was just behind her, reaching forward, she lifted her chin with her fingers and looked straight into her eyes.

"I'm afraid that this kind of injury is too complex for magical healing techniques, but Emma, there is nothing to fix," she said softly.

Emma furrowed her brow with a hint of anger present in her eyes and she said, "I can't walk, how is that normal?"

"Because you are still the same infuriating woman who came into my town and managed to stay despite every obstacle. You have broken the Dark Curse in two timelines, saved my mother and got me to fall for you twice, do you honestly think the fact that you are in a wheelchair changes anything you have ever done."

The blonde thought about this for a moment, and finally a small smile started to tug at the corner of her mouth, "You have a point, but…will you teach me to be better with magic?"

"I thought you would never ask," Regina chuckled and was about to lean in for a kiss, before a small yelp brought her to her feet quickly.

With lightning speed, she and Emma left the office to find Snow sitting in Charming's chair with a little layer of sweat on her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked worriedly, quickly wheeling over to her mother.

Her mother nodded unconvincingly and said quickly, "just under the weather, it's nothing."

Emma narrowed her eyes and instantly said, "You're lying."

Snow looked at her reluctantly and it became even clearer that she was hiding something, "it's fine, I'm just stressed…over Henry," it wasn't a complete lie, but it still set off Emma's senses all the same.

"Snow…" David said warningly, he had personally been against keeping this a secret for as long as they had, but Snow was insistent that she didn't want to pile anything else onto Emma's plate.

She looked at him pleadingly, but she somehow knew that she couldn't lie, especially if she was going to get the help she needed in this moment, after all, Emma wouldn't believe that she was going to see Whale just because she was 'feeling under the weather'.

"I…I…"

The blonde watched her hand go to her stomach and her eyebrows instantly shot up, "you're pregnant?" she asked in a hollow voice.

 **A/N Hope you enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated XD**

 **Some of you may be happy to know that I finally have a chapter plan for this fic, so the last chapter will be chapter 65 encase anyone was wondering. The Pan arc is going to be quite short so let me know whether you feel that anything is too rushed.**


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter sixty

Gold yawned as he continued to look through his inventory, a moment later, the door opened and he smiled at the new arrival holding two cups of coffee.

"I had no idea that you would take to this realms beverages so quickly," he smirked as Cora came over and placed the to-go cup on the counter.

"It was more the machine to make it that threw me, the drink itself is quite pleasant," the former Queen of Hearts chuckled.

Gold smirked and then leaned forward to capture her lips in his own, but at that very moment, purple smoke bellowed out and Regina appeared with Emma.

Regina's eyes widened as she saw her mother jumping away from her former-teacher, she bit her lip and desperately tried to push the implications away from the forefront of her mind.

She quickly exchanged a look with her girlfriend, but the sheriff was still being deadly silent after the revelation from her parents and the mayor rolled her eyes and turned back to face Cora who looked like she was about to explain before Regina held up her hand to stop her.

"We have a problem," she said after a moment's hesitation.

Gold nodded for the woman to continue and she said, "Peter Pan is in Storybrooke and he's after Henry."

Cora looked between Regina and Gold and waited for an explanation, but the shock on her lover's face told her the situation was much direr than it appeared to be.

"Who is Peter Pan?" she finally asked.

Gold just shook his head and Regina rolled her eyes, "his father."

Cora's eyes widened and she shot Gold a critical look, he had never talked about his family with anyone.

"What does he want with Henry?" the man asked through gritted teeth.

Emma looked up at Regina as she finally realised that they had forgot to tell the Dark One a certain piece of information, Regina's eyes widened, in all of the commotion, they hadn't called Gold and told him about the contents of the video.

Regina blew out a breath and nodded, she knew that it would probably be more than difficult for her girlfriend outside and she imagined that if what she thought was going on between him and her mother, than he could hardly lash out at her.

"Pan…he did something," she began, she knew that there was no good way to word this, but she was determined to try anyway. Gold furrowed his brow and nodded for her to continue, "he took Neal's heart and crushed it…"

Gold's eyes widened and he said for clarification, "he killed my son."

Regina nodded and watched his expression change from one of complete and utter grief to indifference with a few cracks in it.

"I'm…" Regina began but Gold held up his hand.

"Do you know why he is after Henry?" the grieving father asked, clearly trying to distract himself so that he wouldn't breakdown in front of his company.

Cora looked at him for a moment, she considered placing her hand over his but she was very aware of the fact that neither of them were particularly comfortable with public displays of affection, and Regina did not look to be in the right place to find this information out, or at least not to find out for sure.

"He is after his heart," Emma offered, seeing that the silence had already stretched out for far too long.

Gold nodded and thought about this for a moment, "I suppose the heart of the boy who was able to believe so deeply in the existence of the curse would be particularly potent."

"For what?" Cora asked.

Gold let out a breath and shook his head, "I'm afraid that is not something I can tell you, but I would be if I was a betting man, it would have something to do with eternal youth."

Regina raised her eyebrow, she hadn't thought about the fact that Pan must have lived longer than his son.

"I shall do some research and get back to you," he continued after no one said anything.

Regina sighed and nodded, she looked to Emma who seemed to agree that they should probably leave, even if the brunette wasn't too fond of the idea of leaving them together.

The mayor turned on her heels and was about to go and open the door for her girlfriend when her mother grabbed her arm.

"Regina…" she began.

Said woman shook her head and looked over at the man gripping the counter, desperately trying to hide his emotions.

"Not right now," she whispered and Cora allowed her hand to drop to her side.

She smile gratefully and turned back to talk to Gold.

* * *

-The next day-

"You're being a child," Regina said as she continued to sip at her coffee while proof reading one of the many reports she had to catch up on following all of the crisis's of the past few months. She was aware that Pan could be an issue, but he had yet to do anything to constitute 'crisis. They hadn't even heard from him since his attempt to take Henry and the brunette was now protected by the most powerful spells that Regina and her mother could think of. Gold seemed convinced that Henry only needed to protect his heart until the minute at which he was born and then there was nothing that Pan could do to complete his ritual, she was pretty confident that they could look after him until the next day.

Emma looked up from her plate where she was dissecting her scrambled egg and grimaced, "what if you found out that Cora was pregnant?"

Regina raised her eyebrow in amusement at her girlfriend's petulant expression, even if she felt a little pang in her stomach thinking who the father would be, and replied, "that would be very different."

"How?"

"Because, my mother is not the same age as me," Regina laughed and then noticed Emma's hand tightly gripping the wheel on her chair. "It would be unfair to expect them to not have any more children, do you honestly believe you would be an only child if you had grown up in the Enchanted Forest?"

"They would have at least waited a few years," the blonde grumbled.

Regina rolled her eyes and placed her iPad down, "I hardly think it was planned dear."

Emma closed her eyes against the implications and shook her head, "that is not the point…"

"Then what is the point?"

"It'll sound stupid," the saviour grumbled.

Regina's expression softened, and she replied, "I think I may know what the issue is…perhaps you should talk to a professional?"

"How would Archie help with…." She trailed off and looked back down at her breakfast.

"Because I don't know how to convince you that this new child isn't a replacement," Regina sighed and brought her hand across to rest on the taller woman's shoulder.

"I have been sent to therapy most of my life, why would it help now?"

"Because, now you can take yourself and actually talk to a therapist you trust," Regina said softly, Emma took a deep breath and looked up at the other woman.

"Could you call him for me?"

The brunette smiled, she was sure that this was going to be far more difficult.

"Of course," with that, she stood and kissed the other woman on the cheek before going off in search of the phone.

* * *

-In the forest-

Wendy sat on a tree stump with her face resting on her fist, she watched as Pan paced back and forth and rolled her eyes, "are we just going to wait here for you to age?"

Pan rolled his eyes and rounded on the teen, "if Felix is as capable as he claims, then we that won't happen," he said through gritted teeth.

Wendy looked around at all of the other Lost Boys gathered around them, she understood that they had to escape the Neverland that was falling apart, but this place hardly seemed any better.

"And then what?" she asked raising from the tree stump.

The blonde teen pinched the bridge of his nose, and said, "and then we make a new Neverland."

Wendy raised her eyebrow and looked around the forest, "here?"

"Not just here, the entirety of Storybrooke will be our playground, once I have rid it of its pesky heroes of course."

"I got it!" Felix shouted as he ran into the clearing holding a phial of clear liquid.

Pan launched forward and grabbed it with a huge smile on his face and began to inspect it, "very well done, Felix. Now lets hope that that you will make a convincing Henry."

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter sixty-one

Emma bit her lip and continued to look around the therapist's office, she honestly had no idea whether this was a good idea or not.

Before she could weigh up the pros and cons of this, the door opened and Archie followed Pongo into the room.

"Sorry, I'm late," he sighed, "my last session ran over and I must admit that I was starving."

The blonde looked up from patting Pongo, who thankfully wasn't trying to jump up her and she smiled at the kind man, "it's fine…"

Archie returned the smile and he fell into the chair across from her, "I trust Henry is safe."

Emma nodded and said, "Regina and Cora have been using every protection spell they can think of, I'm pretty sure that he'll be fine."

The therapist let out a small sigh of relief and said, "should we get started then?"

The blonde looked down at the floor and replied, "I'm not sure that I know where to start."

Archie nodded in understanding and left a few moments pause to allow his patient to order her thoughts before he said, "just tell me what comes to mind first."

Emma bit her lip and pointed down at the chair, "the obvious," she mumbled.

"Is it the fact that you can't walk or the chair itself?"

The saviour was about to snap asking what kind of question that was, but she reminded herself that she was no longer a teenager being forced to attend therapy. She was now an adult with a beautiful girlfriend, an amazing son, parents and a town of people who relied on her.

Emma's eyes widened as her thoughts told her what the issue was, swallowing hard, she said, "how can I be the saviour and a cripple?"

Archie tilted his head and asked, "does not being able to walk erase the things you have done?"

"Of course not, but…this is going to sound stupid…"

The red headed man just raised his eyebrow and waited for the blonde to continue.

After a moment, she sighed and continued, "what if I can't be the saviour again? Henry brought me here thinking that I was a saviour, my parents sent me to this world thinking that I would return as the saviour. If I can't ever walk again, then I can't be what people expect me to be. And as selfish as it is, I can't help feeling that when Snow gives birth, she'll have another little saviour and won't need me anymore."

Archie nodded and considered this for a moment, and finally replied, "and what about Regina?"

"I…" Emma began, not seeing how this was relevant, but she received a nod of encouragement and continued, "when I'm around her…I don't feel like the saviour or the…orphan, I just feel like Emma. She comes with me to physio and she's even more patient than the doctor. I don't feel incompetent around her because she just expects me to be who I am."

"And do you think that Regina loves you more than Henry does?"

"Errr…I guess not…"

"And your parents, since your injuries, have they treated you any different then they did…in the other timeline?" he asked slowly, clearly Henry must have mentioned what happened. Even if he hadn't had any official sessions in a while, he still talked to Archie.

Emma took a second to think about it, in the alternate future, she had been less willing to actually allow them to be her parents, but she had now given them much more opportunity. Her mother made her hot cocoa when she was sad, her father had wanted to tear Neal limb from limb. If anything, they had only treated her different because she had allowed them to treat her as their daughter. She was beginning to wonder if she was so against the pregnancy simply because she was developing some kind of jealous sibling syndrome.

Finally, she looked up from her thoughts to see Archie waiting patiently for a reply, and she smiled at him, vaguely noticing a few stray tears were running down her cheeks.

"You're really good at this," she laughed, accepting the offered tissue.

Archie laughed and said, "perhaps we should make this a weekly thing?"

Emma nodded, as she pulled the tissue away from her face.

* * *

-The next day-

Henry opened his eyes slowly as a blast of cold hit his face.

For a moment he considered whether he had left the window in his bedroom open, but then he realised that he wouldn't have opened it in the first place in he depths of winter.

Finally, he fully opened his eyes and shot up into a sitting position to find himself surrounded by boys and one girl each staring at the brunette boy tied to a tree.

He took in a deep breath and tried to remember what had happened, but all he could remember was spending hours trying to fall asleep because he was so excited about his birthday, and then nothing else.

"So glad you're finally awake," a blond boy said and walked over to his captive.

Henry looked contemptuously at Pan and narrowed his eyes, "my mom said that you wouldn't be able to enter my house."

"Your mother wasn't aware that I'm not working alone, I simply sent a good friend to carry out the task," he smirked.

"As soon as they realise that I'm not home, they'll come after you," Henry growled, trying to struggle against the ropes.

"Even if the queen and the crippled saviour," Pan began, ignoring his great-grandson's narrowed eyes at his choice of words and continued, "figured out that Felix isn't you, they will have to save you before midday, which gives them exactly ten hours."

"Why midday?" the brunette asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well, 11.52 to be precise," Pan corrected himself, "the exact minute at which the Truest Believer was born."

Henry swallowed hard and said, "it won't take them that long to realise that it's not me."

"Let's hope so," the blond boy chuckled before going to talk to another Lost Boy.

The brunette boy looked down at the ground and kept repeating to himself, "they will find me, they will find me…"

* * *

An alarm went off and Emma opened her eyes slowly with a small grunt of disapproval, looking over at it, she saw that it read 6.30 and furrowed her brow.

"Regina…" she whispered sleepily to the woman she was hugging tightly to her body.

In reply she got a sleepy sound from her girlfriend and she continued to lightly shake her, "Regina, it's Henry's birthday."

A moment later, the brunette shot up and looked around the room, expecting her son to be at the end of the bed impatiently waiting for her to get up.

Looking down at the blonde looking at her with amusement in her eyes, the mayor asked, "what time is it?"

Emma pulled herself up and leaned against the headboard, "calm down, it's only six-thirty."

"Since he found what a birthday was, he has jumped on my bed at exactly 5.30 and begged me to get up and make him chocolate pancakes."

"Well…he isn't that far from being a teenager…" the other woman began, but was cut off by Regina's raised hand.

The brunette shook her head and said, "I can just feel that something is wrong."

"Okay…then lets go and wake him up," Emma said while placing a comforting hand on her arm.

Regina shot her a grateful smile and waited patiently as Emma pushed herself into the wheelchair that had set up beside her side of their bed and then she followed her as she wheeled her way down the hallway to Henry's room.

"Hey, kid," Emma whispered unintentionally as they entered the room to see a lump under the blanket.

The boy was lightly snoring and the blonde gave her girlfriend a triumphant smile, "I told you that he's fine, he just didn't want to get up early."

Regina shook her and held up her hand, "something isn't right," she whispered back and approached the bed.

Reaching down, she lightly shook him and said, "Henry, do you want your pancakes?"

There was a groan from under the blanket, something about being too comfortable and Regina furrowed her brow and exchanged a look with Emma, she was half sure that Henry had never actually slept the night before his birthday.

"It's your birthday," she tried again, but received the same response.

Finally, she decided to just trust what her gut was saying and pulled the blanket it down to reveal her son with his eyes tightly closed, clearly comfortable.

Emma inspected Regina's expression and wheeled over to the bed, she instantly furrowed her brow when she saw their sleeping son.

"I don't see the issue," she said, trying not to sound as if she thought her girlfriend was crazy.

Regina continued to look down at her son and shook her head, "no, there's something wrong."

Bringing her hand down, she lightly shook the boy and waited and then tried again slightly more vigorously, "Henry, it's time to wake up."

With a huge grunt, the boy finally sat up and said, "what could you possibly want?"

Regina narrowed her eyes at him, she knew that Henry wouldn't stay the same forever, but she didn't believe that puberty happened overnight.

Raising her hand, the boy was trapped in place and Emma widened her eyes, "Regina…"

The brunette ignored the other woman and said, "who are you?"

'Henry' struggled against his magical binds and said, "Henry…"

Emma felt her superpower go off, and her eyes instantly widened, Regina looked over to her for a reaction and seemed to have all the confirmation she needed to prove that her hunch was correct.

Closing her eyes, the former queen focused on dispelling whatever magic was at play, and a moment later, Henry changed into a much taller boy with a mess of blond hair.

"Where is our son?" Emma asked through gritted teeth, wishing that she had a gun holstered on her wheelchair, but Regina had been against it.

Felix swallowed hard and turned his head to look at the clock, he instantly closed his eyes in frustration when he saw how far off midday it was.

Once he opened them, he simply shook his head to indicate that he wouldn't be revealing any important information.

Regina raised her hand, only the most violent of spells coming to mind, but Emma quickly grabbed her hand and shook her head.

The brunette swallowed hard and nodding, silently telling her that she understood what she meant.

With a wave of her hand, she transported both herself and Emma to the sheriff's station after magically changing each of their clothes.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD**

 **I'm planning to do one last competition on the last chapter, so please submit questions that I could use, if I use it, you'll get a one shot XD I'll decide later how many winners there will be :)**


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter sixty-two

-7.00 am-

Regina leaned against the two way mirror and rolled her eyes as Charming came out of the interrogation room. The Charmings were clearly worried that she would be too 'involved' in the situation, though she was sure that it was because they were afraid of the fireball she would throw at the blonde boy who had spent half an hour in silence.

"I can't get him to talk," David sighed.

"Well then allow me a chance to loosen his lips," Regina said instantly as she unhitched herself from the mirror.

"Regina…I don't think that violence will convince him…"

The brunette was about to deny his words until she heard the distinctive sound of her mother's new favourite high heels accompanied by the sound of her girlfriend's wheelchair.

Even a second, she had turned around to face them and her shoulders slumped at the disappointed looks on each of their faces.

"It didn't work," she sighed.

Cora shook her head and said, "Rumpel thinks that Pan must have put some kind of cloaking spell on Henry so that a locator spell wouldn't work."

"What about him?" Emma asked somewhat hopefully, but she noticed similar expression on David and Regina's face and she sighed deeply, "he still hasn't said a word?"

"He hasn't even told us his name," Regina replied, "and it's not as though he would be willing to drink anything we give him, so truth serum isn't exactly an option."

Emma nodded and looked into the interrogation room, as she inspected his expression, she thought back to her session with Archie. Even though she had only been to one session so far, he had certainly helped her to start coming to terms with her childhood, and she instantly recognised the look on his face. Whoever this Lost Boy was, he was lonely and she knew exactly what to say to get him to tell her the truth.

Before she could announce her plan, however, Snow came running in.

Charming rushed over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, "you're supposed to be in the hospital for observation."

"Whale discharged me, he said that everything is fine, I can't just lay around…"

The blond man sighed and as if they each realised at the same time, both sets of eyes fell onto Emma.

Their daughter knew exactly what they wanted in that moment, but she just couldn't give it to them, at least not yet. But what she could give them was a small smile, a promise that they would have a real conversation about this later.

With practiced skill, she then turned the chair around one-hundred and eighty degrees and said, "I have an idea, if it doesn't work then you can go in fireballs blazing."

Regina nodded, if it had been any other moment, she probably would have noticed that some of the saviour's old confidence had returned to her eyes, but she was far too focused on finding their son.

As the door opened, Felix looked up at the blonde and the allowed his head to fall to the table, desperately trying to remind himself that he only had to keep his silence for five more hours.

"Aren't you getting hungry?" Emma asked, mostly because she was trying to think of the right way to start this conversation.

The blond boy shook his head adamantly and the sheriff just about managed to refrain from growling in frustration.

"You're a Lost Boy right?"

Felix tilted his head and nodded with narrowed his eyes.

"So you got to stay a child forever, that sounds terrible," Emma sighed.

Felix bit his lip, but he couldn't help himself as he said, "what could possibly make you say that?"

"Well, when I was a kid, I was an orphan that no one wanted, I was alone…" she said, just about managing to hold back the tears, knowing that it probably wouldn't help to convince him. She did, however, shoot a look over her shoulder where she felt the presence of the four people who she had left in the other room. Archie had told her that she should talk about her issues when she was ready and she figured that an indirect approach would be the best way to broach the subject.

"How depressing…" he drawled.

"Well, it was…but now I have parents, a girlfriend and a son, my life is pretty good," she continued ignoring his comment.

"It hardly looks like everything is good…"

Emma raised her eyebrow at him as he pointed to her chair, she was sure that it would have bothered a lot more the day before, but Archie was truly an amazing therapist. Instead of anger flooding her system, she felt a slight pang in her stomach that quickly subsided.

"It may not be perfect, but it's far better than my childhood. I'm willing to bet to you wanted to escape to Neverland to escape a crappy situation, only to find that things were not as good as you thought. All you did was prolong your shitty childhood, you cannot deny that being in Neverland is better than wherever you were before, do you think that Pan cares what is happening to you right now? If you're being honest with yourself, do you believe that he is coming to save you?"

Felix swallowed hard and looked down at the table, "once he has Henry's heart, he will have all the power he could ever need and he will save me."

"And what if that takes too long? What if I decide to get my very pissed off girlfriend to rip out your heart and command you to tell us exactly where Henry is. I wonder if she would be in the mood to return it…"

The blond boy's eyes widened in fear, but he still seemed to refuse to look up from the table.

Emma continued to look at him for a few moments before she decided that she had laid the ground work and wheeled her way out of the room.

As soon as she left, she saw the looks on her parents faces, mixed between sadness and fear, she offered them another promising smile and then turned to look at Regina.

"No offence, dear, but what did that prove?" Regina asked with a tilted head.

"What's he doing?" the blonde returned.

"Clutching his head…" Cora replied with confusion evident in her voice.

Emma nodded and said, "give it half an hour and if he doesn't start to reconsider, Regina can make good on my threat."

 **A/N Sorry this so short but I have some assignments due and couldn't spend as long as I wanted to on it, hope you liked it anyway...let me know what you thought XD**


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter sixty three

-Forest- 8.00pm-

Henry struggled against his binds again, he had spent the last couple hours just observing the Lost Boys and he had to admit that what he saw was quite depressing.

He knew that there was a time when he probably would have done anything to get away from his mother and go to Neverland, but now he would give anything to go back to her and his blonde mother.

All of these boys had a depressed look on their faces, all as if they were missing something. The only one that looked happy was Pan himself, even Wendy looked as if they was anywhere else she would wish to be.

Pan looked up at the brunette boy and smirked at the look on his face, "starting to wonder whether they'll ever show up? I wonder if they even know that you're missing yet."

"They still have four hours, you know if you wanted to win, you probably shouldn't have given them so much time," Henry sneered.

"Time that they are probably spending believing that Felix is you, they'll probably be singing Happy Birthday to him right as I'm ripping out your heart," he smirked and crossed his arms triumphantly.

"My mom will know…" Henry said rather indecisively, he was beginning to feel some doubts seep in. He had honestly thought that his mother would have been here sooner, for all she knew, he had already been brutally attacked by the Neverland demon, but he reminded himself just how many heroes there were in his family. Even if they took to the last second, he was sure that they wouldn't allow anything to happen to him. Though he could hardly deny that he wanted to not have to wait another four hours.

Pan smirked when he saw the seeds of doubt he how sowed, he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to torture the boy even if he already had him in his clutches.

Though he probably wouldn't have been as excited if he knew what was happening across town.

* * *

-Station- 8.30pm-

Emma leaned her head on her hands and stared at the clock, "it's been more than half an hour," she grumbled to herself.

She had been shocked when Regina and Cora had willingly gone out for coffee, she had expected her girlfriend to rip out the teen's heart as soon as the minute hand struck, but she seemed to have more faith her the saviour's plan than she had herself at this point.

"It will work, sweetheart, he was clearly effected by your words," Snow sighed as she fell into the seat next to her daughter.

David looked over from his desk where he had been trying to get some work done in an attempt to distract himself, he could tell that a conversation was about to ensue. He could clearly hear the pair of them and he had the feeling that for now, Emma would be more comfortable talking to her mother since she had apparently known her for longer in the other timeline, so he continued to pretend to work.

Emma looked at her lap and then turned her head towards the brunette, "was you effected by them?"

Snow smiled weakly and said, "it was rather hard to hear…but…I understand."

The blonde thought about the woman from the other timeline who she assumed was incapable of understanding basic human reactions to things. She had wondered whether she had ever understood just what being in the foster system generally meant for most people. It would appear, that this version of her mother had experienced enough to be able to actually talk about the past.

"I know that I probably should have talked to you before…"

"It's okay, I can wait as long as you need to talk about the past, and we can do it in any way that you're comfortable with," Snow assured.

Emma thought back to what Archie said, she wanted to talk to her mother about everything, but she also didn't want to do it right now, or in this forum.

Snow waited for a reply patiently and Emma finally decided to put her idea out there, "you know I was thinking…" she began and then looked over at her father and waited until he looked over, she had no doubt that he had been listening to all of this. He finally did and she continued, "maybe you could come to one of my therapy sessions with me."

The brunette had to hold back a smile and instead looked over to her husband to see if he felt the same and it soon became clear that he did.

Leaning forward, she lay her hand on the other woman's arm and squeezed her arm lightly, "that is an excellent idea, sweetheart, we'll come whenever you're ready to have us there."

The saviour let out a sigh of relief, she didn't know why she always had the innate fear of sounding stupid to her parents, but she was sure that this was something that Archie could help her with.

"It may take a while," she laughed.

"We're very patient," David replied with a somewhat contended sigh.

* * *

-Diner- 8.45-

Regina leaned against the counter and her mother noted the tension within her shoulders.

"Emma's plan will work, dear," she tried to assure.

Regina seemed to blink out of her thoughts and then looked up at her mother, "I have no doubt, but I won't be able to relax until Henry is back home, celebrating his birthday."

Cora nodded her understanding and after a moment of silence she said, "I know this may not be the time…"

Regina held up her hand to stop her mother from saying it, "it's not something that we need to discuss, mother."

"It's natural to want to discuss a parent's new relationship."

Regina cringed and then sighed deeply, "I was under no impression that you loved father, I have no issue with this being a 'new relationship', I take issue with the person you chose to enter in it with."

Cora nodded and replied, "I have been thinking about this for a while, I know that he made your life a living hell, so I planned to offer you this choice. If you ask I will end it at the next opportunity."

The younger woman pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "you don't have to do that, I just need time to adjust to the idea. Until then, I would prefer that you not flaunt the fact that it is happening."

"We don't plan to flaunt anything," Cora laughed.

"Then there's no issue."

The older woman seemed to relax marginally and turned to accept the to-go cups that the waitress offered to her.

Regina was about to take half when her phone rang out with a text.

She resisted the urge to laugh as her mother jumped at the noise, then her slight smile fell when she remembered just how funny Henry found how afraid she got sometimes.

Looking down at the screen, she sighed in relief as she read the message from David, 'Emma is talking to him right now, it looks as though she may get the answer soon.'

 **A/N Reviews would be much appreciated, I would love to hear what you thought.**

 **Remember to submit a question if you want to, there's only two chapters left :)**


	64. Chapter 64

**T/W for implied character death and violence**

Chapter sixty four

"I want to make a deal," Felix announced as soon as the door opened.

Emma wheeled her way over to the table and nodded, "within reason."

"I'll tell you exactly what Pan is doing and where he is and you have to promise that every other Lost Boy will be safe…and Wendy…"

"Would 'every other Lost Boy' include you?" the blonde asked with narrowed eyes.

Felix nodded and looked down at the table, "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Emma's eyebrows shot up, she had expected him to cave, but she certainly hadn't expected an apology.

The blond boy didn't look up for a reaction and continued, "after all that time in Neverland, I guess that I forgot what it meant to do the right thing. This is probably the longest that I have been away from Pan and I suppose it has given me some clarity."

"If Henry comes back completely unharmed, you can have immunity, if not, then I'll let Regina decide what to do to you."

The boy cringed and Emma almost sighed in relief, clearly he must have been from the Enchanted Forest, she was half worried that he would know nothing about the Evil Queen.

"Pan won't be doing anything to him until midday…" he sighed, though he was very worried about what his 'friend' would have done to the boy just for fun. He tried to reassure himself that Pan wouldn't compromise the integrity of his plan, but the demonic boy was rather temperamental.

"What happens at midday?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well…11.52…Pan needs to remove his heart at the exact moment he was born and then he can use it to restore his eternal youth."

The sheriff resisted the urge to roll her eyes at just how ridiculous that all sounded, despite everything that had happened, she was sure that she would never get used to all of the very much random rules that seemed to comprise magic.

"So you're saying that he will be completely safe for the next four hours?"

Felix nodded and Emma allowed her tensed shoulders to relax, she had assumed that they would end up saving him at the last possible moment, or at least that was how things always seemed to work out. She had to admit that it was a nice feeling to know that they had more than enough time to save her son.

"Fine, I agree to your terms, as long as Henry comes back safely, every Lost Boy and Wendy will be safe, but if you try to trick us, I can guarantee that you will never get another chance to get away from Pan."

Felix blinked a few times, he was clearly trying to figure out who posed the greater threat to him. Finally he decided that he had to go with the people who currently held him in their custody, Pan hadn't even bothered to check if he was safe, then again, he probably assumed that it would take more than a couple hours for him to be discovered. It still would have been nice for the boy who he has always thought of as a best friend, to at least check that the saviour and Evil Queen weren't ripping him limb from limb, so he finally made his decision and looked up at the blonde.

"They're in the forest, Pan is holding him in a clearing one league directly away from the tree line."

Emma nodded and then turned her chair around.

"Wait…are you going to let me go?" the blond asked rather pathetically.

"When Henry is back, but I'll consider giving you something to eat."

Felix seemed to relax marginally at the thought of food, he literally couldn't remember the last real meal he'd had in his life, if there was one thing wrong with Neverland, it was certainly the food.

With that, Emma wheeled herself out of the room and at the same moment, Regina and Cora came rapidly walking into the station.

Regina looked between everyone in the room, she was expecting to either know where her son was or to have maim a Lost Boy, though she would prefer to be have both, she was willing to go with whatever her girlfriend promised the teen.

"He told me where he is, all we have to do is allow the Lost Boys to stay in Storybrooke after we defeat Pan," Emma explained.

Regina nodded she had half expected something much more unreasonable, and said, "where is he?"

"In a clearing one league from the treeline."

The brunette sighed in relief and turned to leave, only to notice that no one was following her.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, looking back at the three Charmings.

Emma furrowed her brow and said, "I'm not going…"

The mayor just tilted her head, she was frankly amazed at the wonders that one therapy session did for the blonde, she had to consider the possibility that Archie deserved a rather substantial raise.

"Are you sure?" she asked softly, inspecting the woman for any discomfort at the thought of not being involved in the rescue, of not being the saviour.

"I'm sure you can handle it, but I think that maybe you should bring Gold in on this…"

"Why?" Regina instantly replied.

"Even if he was a complete dick, Neal was still his son and Gold deserves the chance to confront the person who took him away from him," the blonde replied as evenly as possible.

Regina looked over at Cora, her mother clearly agreed with her girlfriend and she just nodded. As much as she wanted to be the person to crush Peter Pan's heart, she knew that there was someone else who deserved the catharsis more.

* * *

Henry had finally given up on struggling and instead watched the movement of the sun as it slowly made its way to the highest point.

By his calculations, it was at least 9.00am, three hours until Pan started his little sick ritual, though he was still suffering some doubts, he kept telling himself that they would save him. It seemed as though Emma and Regina could do anything between them, plus they had the added help of the Dark One and the former Queen of Hearts, if there was any family that would be capable of saving him, it was certainly his.

"Getting bored, dear Henry?" Pan sneered as he sauntered over to his captive, "if I didn't think that you would run away, I would release you so you could join in on our little game."

The brunette's eyes flitted over to the Lost Boys who seemed to be playing some kind of sword fighting game, only the swords seemed to be unnecessarily thick tree branches.

Henry shot the blond a contemptuous look and shook his head, "I have no interest in joining in."

"It's a shame, you would have made quite the Lost Boy, well you would have in the other timeline."

The brunette narrowed his eyes and said. "how do you know about the other timeline."

"Because we were once a part of it, many failed to bring you to me and Neverland was falling apart at the seams. But when your mothers stopped that trigger, they created a rift in time itself and allowed us to travel here. Soon Neverland will be falling apart and there will be no trigger to save its residents, then I will be the only version of Peter Pan in this timeline."

"But you won't have Neverland…"

"Such a smart little boy," Pan sneered, "I will just have to create a new dominion and with a few modifications, Storybrooke will do quite nicely."

Henry swallowed hard and said, "modifications?"

"We can't have adults in Neverland, now can we?" Pan laughed, "your heart will ensure that I maintain my youth and then I will be able to unleash a new curse upon this realm."

"What a wonderful plan, it's a shame that it has already failed," someone said from behind Pan and Henry instantly perked up at the sound of his paternal grandfather.

Pan looked around him to see that each of his Lost Boys had been frozen in place and he sighed deeply, it didn't matter much anyway, considering that none of them could ever be a match for his son.

"Rumple," he said evenly as he turned to face the man, who had been accompanied by the former Evil Queen and her mother, "it has been such a long time."

"And whose fault would that be, father?" Gold sneered as he walked towards the teen, "you chose to leave me alone so that you could have your infernal youth forever. Do you truly think that I would allow you to hurt my grandson?"

"Well you didn't have much choice in what I did to Baelfire, so I didn't particularly consider you a threat."

At the blond's words, Gold waved his hands and the ropes fell from Henry's hands.

The boy instantly took the opportunity to run past his kidnapper and into his mother's outstretched arms.

As Gold walked towards his father, Regina began whispering assurances to her son, holding his head in place, she refused allow him to see whatever his grandfather was about to do.

Rumple raised his hand again and the ropes surrounded Pan's hands, holding him firmly in place, "I may not have had a choice in what you did to him, but I can certainly get the revenge that he deserves."

"And why would he deserve it?" Pan asked as he desperately struggled against the rope, he tried to bring his magic to the surface, but he felt something on his forearm that wasn't there before. Looking at the black band that he knew he would be able to take off if he could move his arms, he growled in frustration.

The blond decided to continue, his only option seemed to be some psychological manipulation, "your dear son ordered the torture of the saviour, does that kind of man deserve to be avenged."

Rumple took a deep breath, this had certainly been something he had considered, but not matter what Neal did, he was still his son.

"He didn't have the best role model as a child, but then again, neither did I," Gold sneered.

Pan didn't even show one morsel of regret as he looked into the eyes of the son that he knew almost nothing about, all he could think about was the fact that there was still too much time between now and midday and that there didn't seem to be any way out of his current predicament.

"You don't have to do this Rumple," Pan finally said rather weakly, "with the heart of the Truest Believer, I will be able to keep my life and be a father to you."

"There's one problem with that," Gold sneered as he brought his hand up to the teen's chest, "I already have all the family I could ever need."

With that, he sank his hand into the boy's chest and his heart was dust after a short agonising scream.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you think XD**

 **The next chapter is the last and I haven't had any question suggestions, so I'll assume that you guys aren't as interested. If you have any ideas for what I could do for the final chapter to thank you all, I'm open to suggestions :)**


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter sixty five

-The next day-

Henry looked around the diner and smiled at the poster with two Avengers holding a sign that read 'happy birthday, Henry.'

After they had left the clearing, he had run to hug his grandparents and his blonde mother and then asked whether he could just go home. They had decided to just have a family movie night rather than do the party on his actual birthday and Henry had agreed to wait until the next day since he wasn't really in the mood for a crowd after everything he had gone through.

Now, however, he was surrounded by his school mates enjoying the superhero themed party that he had asked for and he kept allowing his eyes to go over to the present table. Regina had been rather shocked when he had agreed to wait for his presents, but all he wanted the day before was to spend time with his family.

A hand was placed on his shoulder and he looked up at his brunette mother with a grin on his face, "Emma will be here sweetheart, you know she could have missed physio-therapy this once."

Henry shook his head adamantly and said, "she told me that Whale was going to assess her progress today, I knew she was nervous, it would have been cruel to ask her to wait."

The taller brunette smiled contently and ran a hand through his hair, "when did you get so mature?"

"I am twelve now," he said rather proudly, sitting up slightly on the stool.

Regina smirked and brought him into a one armed hug, "don't remind me…"

"Is Cora picking Emma up?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Regina laughed as she finally released him from the hug.

"I thought she was terrified of driving, are you sure that you really going to let her test that on your girlfriend?"

"She assured me that she could handle it…" the brunette chuckled, "besides, Mr Gold can take the wheel if necessary."

Henry seemed to relax marginally at the reassurance and a moment later, his mother's safety was confirmed as the bell rang out to announce the arrival of the final party guests: Emma, Gold and Cora.

Cora offered her daughter and grandson a quick wave and then pushed Gold over to a free booth so that the blonde could go offer and tell them the good news.

"Hey," Emma smiled and Henry quickly jumped off the stool and hugged her. The sheriff laughed and hugged him back, "how long are you going to do this for?"

"You got Felix to tell you the truth, you saved my life," he said against her shoulder.

The saviour looked up at Regina and smiled broadly at her girlfriend, who eventually put her hands on their son's shoulders and lightly pulled him back. As soon as she did so, he leaned into the other woman who had saved his life and then looked at his blonde mother, "so how did it go?"

Emma bit her lip and said, "okay this is going to sound really stupid…."

Regina raised her eyebrow and said, "if Whale said it, then that is a possibility,"

The blonde laughed lightly and said, "he did some tests and…I moved my toe…I know that's it not a big deal…"

"That's awesome!" Henry nearly shouted, which caused everyone attending his party to look over at him, he quickly bit his lip and ducked his head. Eventually, everyone went back to their conversation and Henry whispered unnecessarily, "that's awesome."

Emma laughed at him and said, "I guess it is, he said that it proves that my nerves are regenerating and eventually magic might be able to heal the injury."

Regina smiled at her girlfriend and said, "that's amazing news," unhitching herself from Henry's side, she leaned down and connected their lips.

"Can my birthday present be that you stop doing that?" Henry asked.

Regina looked over her shoulder to see that the brunette was trying to cover the image with his hand, though he had a small grin playing across his lips.

"I'm afraid that's not something I would be willing to give you, kid," Emma replied and then as if to prove her point, she pulled the brunette in for a kiss that was definitely more than a peck.

"You two are disgusting, I'm going to talk to someone else."

Emma smirked against her girlfriend's lips and then finally allowed her to stand up.

Regina quickly wiped some smudged lipstick off the side of her mouth and then just shook her head, "you are such a child, Swan."

"And yet you love me enough to let me move in."

Regina sighed as her girlfriend reminded her of something they had yet to do, "speaking of which…"

The blonde looked over shoulder and saw her parents talking to each other in a booth and said, "now?"

"There's no time like the present," Regina chuckled and then began walking over to Snow White and Prince Charming.

"We are not naming our child Leopold," Charming laughed.

"Why, it was my father's name?"

"People will make fun of him," the blond pointed out.

"My father was a king!"

"Which is exactly why nobody made fun of him."

Snow rolled her eyes, until she noticed the approaching pair.

They were met with a smile when she fell into the seat next to her former step-daughter and a second later, Emma wheeled over to the end of the table.

Snow didn't seem to notice the how nervous her daughter was and said, "how did the assessment go?"

"Whale said that my nerves are regenerating," Emma replied, instantly relaxing at her own words, she could honestly keep repeating them at this point.

Both of her parents smiled broadly at the thought and Snow said, "that's great sweetheart!"

"So how long do you expect to let the Lost Boys camp at Town Hall?" Charming asked casually once his smile at the news had finally began to fade.

"We honestly need to figure out how we treat them, I'm sure that some of them are older than Gold, but they're still very much teenagers," Regina sighed, "I've had a few offers of people willing to foster them, we'll need to make sure that they all get a home in Storybrooke."

"Is there enough room?" Snow asked with a furrowed brow, clearly she was going through the layout of Storybrooke in her mind.

"There was quite a lot of empty real estates written into the curse, it's a case of whether any of them are old enough to live alone…"

Each of them nodded their understanding and a comfortable silence fell over them, until Regina finally overtly elbowed her girlfriend.

"Why do I have to do it?" she asked indignantly.

"Because they're your parents," Regina replied instantly.

Emma rolled her eyes and was about to make a retort until her father said, "do what?"

The blonde took a deep breath and decided that this should be a 'ripping off the band aid' moment, "me and Regina decided something that you guys should really know…"

"Okay…" Snow said cautiously, her eyes flitting between the pair to see if she could pick up on what it could possibly be.

Emma bit her lip and said, "we're moving in together…permanently."

Snow blinked a few times, she had been under the impression that her daughter would come back to the loft eventually, but now that she thought about it, that would be a rather pointless thing to do only for her to move back in with her girlfriend later. She still couldn't help the urge to try and protect her little girl from rushing things, however.

"It's a little soon wouldn't you agree?" she asked, shuffling away from Regina in case she got some kind of smack for her words. To her surprise though, the brunette just smirked at her words, and she wondered if it was because her reaction was nowhere near what happened when she discovered how the curse had been broken.

"I know it's kind of early, but we have a son together and we love each other, if we wait it would just be because convention says we have to," Emma explained, "plus by the time I'm able to walk again, you'll need the space for someone else."

Snow's hand fell to her stomach and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, "I guess you're right, it's not like we'll never see you again."

"You could name him 'Leo' you know?" Emma pointed out.

The brunette blinked a few times and then a smile spread across her face, "you heard us?"

"Well he did insult your father, it was difficult not to notice," Regina chuckled.

Charming crossed his arms and sunk in his seat and mumbled something about protecting his children.

"Time for presents," Ruby announced over the rabble of the diner and the four sat at the Charming's booth looked over to see Henry practically vibrating with excitement next to the table of presents.

Half an hour later, the brunette was surrounded by a pile of gifts, each of which he was very grateful for and he finally got to the biggest on the table.

Reading the tag, he read 'happy birthday Henry, love from mom and Emma', he smiled over at them and in that moment considered that he should ask Emma about calling her 'ma' later. Shaking his head, he ripped the paper away and his mouth instantly fell open.

Running his hand over the green box, he re-read the words 'Xbox One' three times before he ran over and hugged each of his mothers at the same time.

"You guys are awesome!"

"You have one more gift," someone called from behind the familial embrace.

Henry turned and furrowed his brow at the man that he was sure hadn't been there before, holding what appeared to be his storybook.

Regina instantly stood and motioned for Henry to go behind her, and Emma pushed her chair forward to be in front of him as well.

"Who are you?" she asked with narrowed.

The man smiled good-naturedly at Regina and said, "I'm so glad you found your happy ending, my predecessor was very against you getting redemption."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she tried again, though this time she moved her hand so it would be one second away from igniting a fireball.

The man held up his free hand in surrender and said, "perhaps I should have explained myself better, I am Isaac, the Author."

Henry's eyebrows went up and he felt an unexplainable rush of excitement in his gut, managing to step in front of his parents, he said, "of what?"

"Of everything, every realm, every timeline…"

Regina and Emma exchanged a look and the blonde said, "timeline?"

"Everything here should never have existed according to the original plan for the universe, the original timeline exists parallel to this one, though things take quite the different course. I don't want to give away too many details, but I will just say that the Evil Queen and the saviour was not a planned pairing…though it would seem that the universe has conspired to allow at least one version of you to get the happy ending that you truly deserve."

A silence fell over the diner, though only a small number of the patrons truly knew what the strange man was talking about.

Finally, Regina's brain cleared slightly and she said, "is there a point to this?"

Isaac smiled at the woman and then opened the book he was holding, revealing the blank pages, "this is one of the only realms to not have a written story, since it shouldn't have existed in the first place."

Emma's eyes widened and she shook her head, "you're saying…"

Isaac held up his hand again and shook his head, "there is no reason why it can't continue existing, I'm simply here because someone needs to record events of this realm."

With his rather vague explanation, he walked over to Henry and handed him the book.

Henry looked at the cover for a moment and then looked up at Isaac, "what exactly do you want me to do."

"Just write things exactly as they happened," he smiled and handed him the quill from his pocket, "for now you will not be able to change events, as mature as you have become, it is still far too soon for that. But this is still a great responsibility Henry, my gift to you is asking you to be the Author of this new timeli-

 **"** **Will you stop writing, kid?"** **Emma sighed as she wheeled her way into the living room to find Henry hunched over his book as usual.**

 **"** **I only got to my birthday," he sighed and shook his hand from the intense cramp.**

 **"** **That was a week ago, surely you don't need to write about your week of writing," Emma chuckled, taking the book out of his hands, "you haven't even taken your Xbox out of its packaging."**

 **Henry looked longingly over at the TV where he should have already set up his new console and decided that his blonde mother had a very good point.**

 **Snapping the book shut, he jumped off the couch and ran off to his room to get his untouched birthday present.**

 **The blonde smiled at his disappearing back and picked up the book, Henry had explained the images appeared once he had finished writing certain passages and she was rather curious what was important enough to be captured in image.**

 **Opening to a random page, she saw a picture of her and Regina sitting on a picnic blanket locking lips and she sighed contently when she** **realised** **that it was their first date.**

 **"** **Trip down memory lane?" Regina asked from her position leaning against the** **door frame.**

 **Emma smiled up at her girlfriend and motioned for her to come and sit on the couch, "how did he know at the stuff he wasn't there for?"**

 **"** **Gold gave him a dream catcher and some dust so that he could see anything that he needed to know," Regina sighed as she fell onto the couch and brought her fingers to intertwine with those of her live-in girlfriend.**

 **"** **Are you worried that he may see something he doesn't want to?"**

 **Regina shrugged and said, "I was, but he's a clever boy, I think he would know when he shouldn't see something. Besides, as the Author he should have the right to know what story h** **e is** **writing."**

 **The** **saviour** **smiled and leaned forward to capture the other woman's lips in her own before she leaned back and said, "we're going to be late."**

 **Regina sighed and said, "is dinner with your parents really necessary?"**

 **"** **Look on the bright side, if something happens, it will give Henry something else to write about."**

* * *

 _A/N Hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter, please let me know if the ending is confusing, for anyone who needs explanation, the whole fic (up until the bold) was written by Henry for the new storybook._

 _For all of the people who asked for a fluffy ending, I just wanted to let you know that this isn't actually the end._

 _For now the sequel doesn't have a definite date, but I started a series of one-shots called 'Back to the Start One-Shots' for anyone who wants to read more from this universe in the meantime. (These won't be written by Henry)._

 _Instead of a competition, I'm just going to ask you guys to send me any prompts for the one-shot series. It can be anything you want for this universe, but in particular, I would appreciate anything that you guys think I should have included or something you wanted more of. I'll try and fill every prompt that is sent :)_

 _Thanks to everyone who stuck with this until the end XD_

 _I also need to thank my beta QueenApples for being awesome and Quindecim and PerditusFic for helping out XD_


	66. Important AN

Hey guys,

Thanks again to everyone who followed this story to the end.

1991 asked me if I had a facebook page for my ff account, so I decided to set one up. It will be where I post ideas before I post the actual chapters, I may also post previews if you guys would be interested.

I would also ask for ideas if I ever get blocked and it would be the best place to send prompts to...

Let me know anything else you guys would like me to use it for, and I would like to thank anyone who checks it out in advance and even if you decide not to, thanks again for sticking with this story XD

It can be found at facebook slash... (ff doesn't let you write out full websites haha so let me know if you're having trouble finding it)

/withgirl123


	67. question

Hey guys,

I know it's been a while since this story finished, but since then I've had a few bad reviews and I actually agree with them. Since this was one of my first fics, it was my way of getting back into writing after I was put off it for about five years.

I would like to think that I have improved since I wrote this, so I was wondering whether you guys would be interested in a rewrite. The chapters would be longer and I would add scenes to make it flow better, mainly romance, I've seen a lot of people saying that it was lacking. However, the overall timeline would be the same, so you should be prepared for the same outcome.

I understand if you guys do not want it since it has been so long, but I love this fic and I think that it can be better.


	68. Rewrite has been posted :D

**Hey :)**

 **Just posting here to announce that the first chapter of the rewrite has officially been published under the title 'Back to the Start (again)'**

 **I have literally rewritten every word and tried to fix some of the dialogue that I don't like anymore so it had taken quite a long time to actually do, I have added every two chapters together so that you get longer chapters overall rather than just loads of shorter ones.**

 **I have completely rewritten the first 14 chapters so far and I plans to finish at least the first arc before they go to the Enchanted Forest. If I don't think there is much interest, I probably won't go past that point since it does take quite a while to rewrite, especially in later chapters when I will need to start adding more scenes, so if you guys do still want the rewrite please be sure to let me know :)**

 **Either way, thank you for all of the support that I got on the original version of this story and I will definitely be keeping both versions up on my account :)**


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